Many animal species in southern China carry high levels of organohalogen contaminants. Most common is DDT, which has been banned for a long time in many parts of the world. New types of PCBs as well as polychlorinated carbon compounds and chloroparaffins were also found.
These are the results of a research study from a collaborative project between researchers from ACES and Chinese colleagues. A total of thirty individuals from six species of frogs, birds, fish and snake have been collected and analysed from a paddy field located near an industrial park in the Yangtze River Delta.
The results demonstrate extensive chemical contamination from both agricultural and industrial production. Professor Åke Bergman and his research partners state in their article in the journal Science of the Total Environment that the levels are alarmingly high. The researchers call for further (eco)toxicological studies and environmental monitoring.
