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Research Journal of Environmental Sciences

Year: 2011 | Volume: 5 | Issue: 2 | Page No.: 171-178
DOI: 10.3923/rjes.2011.171.178
Evaluation of Pesticide Residues in Saudi Arabia Ground Water
M.H. El- Saeid, A.M. Al- Turki, M.I. Al- Wable and G. Abdel- Nasser

Abstract: The objective of present study is to demonstrate the practical applicability of Microwave-Assisted Extraction (MAE) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) for the surveying and determining pesticide residues in ground water samples. A survey, undertaken in Saudi Arabia, has shown the presence of organochlorine, organophosphorous, carbamates and pyrethroids pesticides in the ground water samples. Fifteen regions were selected at Central, East, North and South of Saudi Arabia to perform the survey process of pesticide residues in ground water. The MAE followed by GC-MS was used for the extraction and determination of the pesticides residues. The pesticide residues of DDE, DDT, dimethoate, toxaphen chloroneb, methomyl, promoxenyl, bendiocarb, promoxenyl, bendiocarb and cypermethrin were detected in ground water samples. The most detected pesticides in water samples were Dimethoate (86.66% of total regions), Methomyl (53.3% of all regions) and Chloroneb (20% of all regions). All the pesticide residues extracted by MAE method were recovered in good yields and detection limits ranged from 0.0001 to 0.003 mg L-1. Dimethoate was detected at high concentration in water samples collected from Mezahemya (0.418 mg L-1), Chloroneb (0.114 mg L-1) in Al-hassa and Bendiocarb (0.181 mg L-1) in Abha. It was concluded the MAE and GC-MS techniques were accurate, reliable, less time consuming and cost effective in the analysis of different ground water samples and are recommended for the monitoring of pesticides with a broad range of physico-chemical properties in ground water. The present results are alarming for the health of the human beings in the studied regions.

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How to cite this article
M.H. El- Saeid, A.M. Al- Turki, M.I. Al- Wable and G. Abdel- Nasser, 2011. Evaluation of Pesticide Residues in Saudi Arabia Ground Water. Research Journal of Environmental Sciences, 5: 171-178.

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