ORGANOCHLORINE PESTICIDES IN THE DRINKING WATER SAMPLES FROM DIFFERENT ZONES OF THE ALWAR, NCR OF DELHI

The large-scale use of persistent organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in agriculture and public health is a major source of contamination in the environment. In agriculture, pesticides are used to protect crops from pests, while in public health, they are used to control disease vectors such as mosquitoes. Higher toxicity, slow degradation, and bioaccumulation are the significant challenges associated with OCPs. These Organohalogens, leach into the soil and contaminate groundwater and they are carried by runoff into surface water sources. Due to their high chemical stability and non-biodegradable nature, contamination of drinking water and water table is increasing day by day. Due to the high persistence and bioaccumulation potential, the Stockholm Convention has classified most of the OCP compounds as environmental hazards and banned the use of many of them. However, in many developing countries they are still in use making the ban ineffective. Contaminated drinking water with OCPs pose a variety of health risks, depending on the specific pesticides present and the level of exposure. Contaminated drinking water has become a significant issue and alarming signal for public health globally. The purpose of this study is to assess the recent trend of OCPs level in drinking water collected from four zones of Alwar city and its surrounding area-East, West, North and South. The results revealed the presence of isomers of HCH, heptachlor, DDT, Endrin, Endosulphan, Chlordane and its metabolites and Methoxychlor, Dieldrin, Aldrin in water samples. The OCPs residues present in the drinking water indicate the contamination of water bodies, which in turn is a risk to human health and safety of the environment. Secondly, now it has become challenging to arrange for a clean and safe drinking water for consumption which may pose various problems of management of human health and biodiversity conservation.