Magnitude of Pesticidal Contamination of Sediment and Water of Keoladeo National Park Lake, Bharatpur

Four water and sediment samples were drawn from Keoladeo National Park Lake (bird sanctuary), Bharatpur to monitor pesticide residues. Estimation was done by GC-ECD using multiresidue method for organochlorine and synthetic pyrethroid insecticides. In sediment samples, total residues of HCH, DDT, endosulfan and cypermethrin ranged from 0.382–1.924, 0.799–14.375, 0.132–0.502 and 0.560–1.150 ng g⁻¹, respectively. Simlarly, in water samples, total residues of HCH, DDT and endosulfan ranged from 0.065–0.199, 0.014–0.560 and 0.002–0.039 ng ml⁻¹, respectively. Cypermethrin was not detected in water and β-HCH in sediment samples. Sediment samples were observed to contain relatively higher amounts of detected pesticides. Two water samples contained residues of HCH and DDT above MRL values.