Analysis of DDT and its metabolites in soil and water samples obtained in the vicinity of a closed-down factory in Bangladesh using various extraction methods

Abstract

This study was conducted to monitor the spread of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites (dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD)) in soil and water to regions surrounding a closed DDT factory in Bangladesh. This fulfillment was accomplished using inter-method and inter-laboratory validation studies. DDTs (DDT and its metabolites) from soil samples were extracted using microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), supercritical fluid extraction (SFE), and solvent extraction (SE). Inter-laboratory calibration was assessed by SE, and all methods were validated by intra- and inter-day accuracy (expressed as recovery %) and precision (expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD)) in the same laboratory, at three fortified concentrations (n = 4). DDTs extracted from water samples by liquid-liquid partitioning and all samples were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC)-electron capture detector (ECD) and confirmed by GC/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Linearities expressed as determination coefficients (R 2) were ≥0.995 for matrix-matched calibrations. The recovery rate was in the range of 72–120 and 83–110 %, with <15 % RSD in soil and water, respectively. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.0165 mg kg−1 in soil and 0.132 μg L−1 in water. Greater quantities of DDTs were extracted from soil using the MAE and SE techniques than with the SFE method. Higher amounts of DDTs were discovered in the southern (2.2–936 × 102 mg kg−1) or southwestern (86.3–2067 × 102 mg kg−1) direction from the factory than in the eastern direction (1.0–48.6 × 102 mg kg−1). An exception was the soil sample collected 50 ft (15.24 m) east (2904 × 102 mg kg−1) of the factory. The spread of DDTs in the water bodies (0.59–3.01 μg L−1) was approximately equal in all directions. We concluded that DDTs might have been dumped randomly around the warehouse after the closing of the factory.