Multiresidue Analysis of Pesticides in Agriculture Soil from Jordan Valley

A multiresidue analytical method using a gas chromatograph equipped with electron capturedetector (GC/ECD) was optimized for the analysis of sixteen organochlorine, organophosphate, triazol, pyrethroid and dicarboximide pesticides (16-OCPs) in forty soil samples collected from Ghor Al Mazra`a and Ghor Al-Hadith in the southern Jordan valley region during the period from November 2011 to February 2012. The total concentrations of the studied 16-pesticides in all investigated soil samples ranged from 96.45 to 3129.81 μg/kg with an average value of 1178.41μg/kg. In the area under investigation cypermethrin was encountered most frequently while hexachlorobenzene was the least detected pesticide. The limit of detection (LOD) was ranged from 1.6-940.3 μg/L. The recovery rates were ranged from 70 to 129 %, with relative standard deviation (RSD %) values between 1.5 and 25%. The results of validation parameters verified that the experimental methodology was efficient and robust. The study concluded that mitigation measures concerning pesticide application to the land should be taken to decrease OCPs and other pesticides residues in order to improve the soil quality in the Jordan valley.