Analysis of environmental and farming factors of soil contamination by a persistent organic pollutant, chlordecone, in a banana production area of French West Indies

In the French West Indies, chlordecone (CLD), an organochlorine pesticide, was applied in banana plantations from 1972 to 1993. Our study was aimed at identifying the factors that determine soil CLD contamination and that thus can describe the spatial distribution of this contamination. For each of the 1045 plots analyzed for CLD, we collected spatial information on the physical environment and agricultural activities. Then, we searched for determinants of soil contamination and used a multiple regression model to predict the spatial distribution of CLD.