Historical residues of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a flood sediment profile from the Longwang Cave in Yichang, China.

Abstract Historical residual of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in flood sediment from a karst cave were investigated. Fifteen vertical sediment samples were collected from a 6 m-deep flood sediment profile in the Longwang Cave, and the concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and particle size distribution in the sediments were analysed. The concentrations of OCPs and PAHs varied from 0.85 ng g−1 to 63.1 ng g−1 (mean 8.11 ng g−1) and 5.05 ng g−1 to 82.6 ng g−1 (mean 13.9 ng g−1), respectively; major PAHs in the profile were 2- and 3-ringed PAHs and a few were 5- or 6- ringed PAHs, which indicated less influence from industry but a high impact from the local combustion of coal and biomass; HCHs and DDTs in the profile were historically residual in this region, and HCHs mainly originated from the application of Lindane, while DDTs originated from the application of dicofol and technical DDTs; no significant correlation between the concentrations of OCPs and PAHs and the sedimental particle size in the sediments was found.