EDAFOLOGÍA, VOL 15. (1,1 2, 3), PP 3-24 2008
EL HEXACLOROCICLOHEXANO EN GALICIA: ALGUNOS DATOS
SOBRE PRODUCCIÓN, USO Y CONTAMINACIÓN
R. Calvelo Pereira, M. C. Monterroso Martínez, F. Macías
Laboratorio de Tecnologia Ambiental. Instituto de Investigaciones Tecnológicas.
Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 15782-Santiago de Compostela, Spain E-mail
contacto: roberto.calvelo@usc.es
The hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) is an organochlorine pesticide widely used in agriculture, forestry or domestic activities. Such formulations are characterized by the presence of an enriched HCH (99% of g-HCH, lindane). These kind of compounds are persistent in the different environments based on their peculiar physico-chemical properties providing a characteristic bioaccumulation and biomagnification in food webs (there exists residues of HCH and lindane either in soils, sediments, plants, water ...). The different HCH isomers are toxic compounds, dangerous in the end for the humans; this had implied a very conservative legislation regarding production and use of HCH and lindane. A large quantity of residues has been produced after decades (heterogeneous mixtures of the different isomers of HCH), dumped without control in the environment. In Galicia (NW of Spain), there has been detected a problem of pollution due the presence of HCH wastes in the industrial area of Torneiros (O Porriño, Pontevedra), that has been characterized.
Key words: lindane, soils, Galicia