Monitoring of chlorinated hydrocarbon compounds residues in surface water and bed sediment samples from El-Rahawy drain, Egypt

The concentrations of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls were determined in surface water and bed sediments from El Rahawy drain in the southwestern part of Nile Delta. Results obtained show that the concentration of:LDDT compounds in surface water range from 0.008 to 0.239 μ L−1 and from 0.011 to 3.10 μ kg−1(dry weight) in bed sediments during wet and dry seasons. Hexachlocyclohexanes (HCHs) have also been widely used in the region but the current environmental concentrations are slightly higher than those of DDT's, which is due to the less persistence of those compounds. Cyclodienes (Cds) were measured, for example as endosulfan II, in concentrations range from 0.021 to 0.823 μ L−1 and 0.09 to 1.73 μ kg−1 (dry weight) in surface water and bed sediments, respectively. Polychlorinated biphenyls including Aroclors 1016, 1221, 1232, 1242, 1248, 1254, and 1260 were not detected in any of surface water and bed sediments samples due to low funding limitations. The investigation of chlorinated hydrocarbon compounds in the surface water and sediments are still within safety margins compared to Canadian guidelines.