Insecticide contamination of Jamaican environment III. Baseline studies on the status of insecticidal pollution of Kingston Harbour

Kingston Harbour, a 50 km2 bay connected to the Caribbean sea only through a 3.5 km channel, is contaminated with residues of at least seven insecticides, which are introduced by the Rio Cobre. Weekly sampling of the Harbour for a month in July 1992 revealed the following maximum and mean residue levels in water (μg l−1) and sediments (ng g−1; data in parentheses), respectively: α-endosulphan, 8.56 and 2.18 (1 and 0.52); β-endosulphan, 15.7 and 7.86 (0.76 and 0.4); endosulphan sulphate, 0.0003 and 0.0003 (0); p,p′-DDT, 7 and 7 (0.04 and 0.35); dieldrin, 3.75 and 1.88 (0.001 and 0.001); aldrin, 0 (36.7 and 9.2); endrin, 0.93 and 0.26 (0.006 and 0.006); lindane, 0 (0.8 and 0.5); and diazinon, 0.1 and 0.05 (0.007 and 0.045). Oysters and fish were also contaminated with α-endosulphan, diazinon and aldrin.