DISTRIBUTIONS OF RESIDENTIAL ORGANOCHLORINE PESTICIDE RESIDUALS ALONG THE ARIZONA/MEXICO BORDER

摘要

The use of DDT has been banned for many years in the United States. Mexico began a 10-year phase out of DDT in 1997. DDT was banned in the U.S. primarily because of its environmental persistence. Thus, DDT is still found in the outdoor and indoor environment. We report the results from samples collected in 83 homes in Arizona along the Arizona/Mexico border. The media sampled included indoor air, floor dust, dermal wipes, and blood serum. 4,4'-DDT was detected in 62% of the floor dust samples, 19% of the indoor air samples, and 31% of the dermal wipes. This may be from spray residuals in older housing stock, recent use of chemicals obtained in Mexico, track-in from outdoor usage, or other sources. We report on the concentrations found, examine the distributions of occurrence of DDT analogs in the various media and discuss possible sources of these occurrences.