PMID- 17165108
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20070227
LR  - 20171116
IS  - 0090-4341 (Print)
IS  - 0090-4341 (Linking)
VI  - 52
IP  - 2
DP  - 2007 Feb
TI  - Distribution of persistent organic pollutants in soil and grasses around Mt. 
      Qomolangma, China.
PG  - 153-62
AB  - Previous literature has reported the fate of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) 
      in mountainous regions, but the Himalayas have received little attention, and few 
      results from this region have been published. The present study collected soil 
      and grass samples from the Mt. Qomolangma (Everest) area, central Himalayas, 
      China, from the elevation range 4700 to 5620 m. We analyzed all samples for 
      organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) to determine the level of OCP contamination in 
      the Qomolangma region. The soil samples contained 0.385 to 6.06 ng g(-1) of DDT 
      only, and these concentrations were lower than those from Europe and mountains 
      close to industrial emissions. Our study detected a number of OCPs in the grass 
      samples, such as hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) (0.354 to 7.82 ng g(-1)), 
      hexachlorobenzene (HCB) (0.0156 to 1.25 ng g(-1)), endosulfan (0.105 to 3.14 ng 
      g(-1)), and DDT components (1.08 to 6.99 ng g(-1)). Their concentrations were 
      higher than those in pine needles from Alberta, Canada. Our measurements of HCH 
      and DDT in grass samples showed the same or slightly higher concentration levels 
      than reported in moss from Mt. Qomolangma 15 years ago. This result and the 
      analysis of isomer ratios (alpha/gamma-HCH and p-p'-DDE/p-p'-DDT) indicate recent 
      releases of OCPs from a nearby region, possibly from dicofol use in India. We 
      also investigated the elevation distribution of OCPs and found that HCH and HCB 
      were progressively concentrated in colder, higher elevation sites. A 
      bioconcentration factor (BCF) of grass was calculated, and the BCF values 
      increased with the increasing elevation, indicating that the cold condensation of 
      POPs at high-elevation sites may increase the potential threat to vegetation and 
      the food chain in the mountain ecosystem.
FAU - Wang, X-P
AU  - Wang XP
AD  - Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P. O. Box 
      2871, Beijing 100085, China. wangxp@itpcas.ac.cn
FAU - Yao, T-D
AU  - Yao TD
FAU - Cong, Z-Y
AU  - Cong ZY
FAU - Yan, X-L
AU  - Yan XL
FAU - Kang, S-C
AU  - Kang SC
FAU - Zhang, Y
AU  - Zhang Y
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20061212
PL  - United States
TA  - Arch Environ Contam Toxicol
JT  - Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology
JID - 0357245
RN  - 0 (Environmental Pollutants)
RN  - 0 (Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated)
RN  - 0 (Pesticides)
RN  - 0 (Soil)
SB  - IM
MH  - *Altitude
MH  - China
MH  - Chromatography, Gas
MH  - Environmental Monitoring/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Environmental Pollutants/*analysis
MH  - Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated/*analysis
MH  - Pesticides/*analysis
MH  - Poaceae/*chemistry
MH  - Snow/chemistry
MH  - Soil/*analysis
EDAT- 2006/12/14 09:00
MHDA- 2007/02/28 09:00
CRDT- 2006/12/14 09:00
PHST- 2006/05/31 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2006/09/04 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2006/12/14 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2007/02/28 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2006/12/14 09:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1007/s00244-006-0111-6 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2007 Feb;52(2):153-62. doi: 
      10.1007/s00244-006-0111-6. Epub 2006 Dec 12.