Groundwater Pollution Due to Pesticides and Heavy Metals in North West Bank

Marwan Ghanem, Subhi Samhan, Erick Carlier, Wasim Ali

Bir Zeit University, P.O.Box 14, Ramallah, West Bank.
Polytech Lille, Universite lille1, Lille, France.
PWA, Ramallah.
Wasim Ali, KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany..

DOI: 10.4236/jep.2011.24049                

Abstract

This study aims at determining the quantitative effect of pesticides including 2, 4-D dichlorphenoxy acetic acids, Paraquat, Atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-striazine), and MCPP 2-(2-Methyl-4-chlorophenoxy) pro-panioic acid on groundwater quality due to agricultural in Jenin and Tulkarem, northern part of the West Bank. The concentrations of pesticides in Jenin was found to be higher than those in Tulkarem where the majority of the samples taken had concentration 10 µg/L. It is concluded that the contamination of the tested wells was due to pesticides and not wastewater disposal, since most of the samples were free from pathogenic indicators. Results revealed that using these wells for drinking purposes has a potentially high health risk. This is mainly due to the uncontrolled industrial and agricultural activity as well as the lack of monitoring. Concentrations of heavy metals including cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), chromium (Cr) and copper (Cu) were also quantitatively determined for the same period extending from April, 2004 to May, 2005. Concentrations of Pb and Cr in most of the tested wells in Tulkarem complied with the WHO guideline; while nitrate (NO3) and potassium (K) concentrations exceeded the permissible concentra-tions.

Keywords

Pesticides, Groundwater Pollution, Water Quality, West Bank

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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