Organochlorine Pesticide Residues in Styrian Soils and Seeds of the Styrian Oil Pumpkin: An Inventory and a Concept for their Reduction

The fungicide hexachlorobenzene and other organochlorine pesticides have been detected in agricultural soils of the Austrian federal state Styria and in the seeds of the Styrian oil pumpkin grown on these fields. For monitoring the exact amounts of these contaminants in the single ecological compartments effective extraction and sample pre-treatment techniques have been developed, thus leading to a significant correlation between the concentration of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in soil and its content in the oil seeds grown there, the factor ranging between 5 and 25. The efficiency of a new concept for the reduction of the pesticide contamination of the pumpkin seeds involving the application of activated charcoal powder could be demonstrated in a field-study. Thus the bioavailability of HCB in soil could be reduced significantly leading to lower HCB-contaminated oil seeds.