Persistence of pesticides in water, sediment and fish from fish farms in Kolleru Lake, India

Kolleru Lake is a freshwater lake in south-eastern India with a high potential for aquaculture. It is located between 61degrees32' and 61degrees47'N latitude and 81degrees15' and 81degrees27'E longitude. Various chemicals such as pesticides are used to control diseases and ectoparasites in intensive aquaculture farms in India. The main aim of this paper was to determine selected pesticides in water, sediment and fish from 12 fish farms located in Kolleru Lake in order to assess the quality of fish for human consumption and to improve the further risk assessment and management of such chemicals in aquaculture and also to evaluate the impact of aquaculture chemicals on the Kolleru Lake environment. The chemicals used in intensive aquaculture farms were documented. Water, sediment and fish samples were collected from the fish farms during the production period and analysed for the pesticides alpha-BHC, gamma-BHC, malathion, chloropyrifos, isodrin, endosulfan, dieldrin and p,p'-DDT using gas chromatography. (C) 2002 Society of Chemical Industry.