Organochlorine pesticides
Organochlorine pesticides are pesticides made out of organochlorine compounds They are chemically produced pesticides which include DDT, dieldrin, heptachlor and chlordane. Many types where widely used as insecticide throughout the 1950's and 1960's until their use were banned in western countries since the 1970's. [1] Many organochlorine pesticides are extremely persistent in the environment. They have a low solubility in water and therefore tend to adsorb on to particles. They tend to accumulate in the lipids of living organisms which makes them difficult to excrete. Originally they were used as pesticides in terrestrial ecosystems. However, they are flushed away from terrestrial ecosystems trough rivers and end up in marine ecosystems. Due to their low solubility and high adsorption to partials and lipids this takes many years to decades.
