Endrin from cotton

Endrin from Cotton. The major off-take for endrin is for use on cotton, which it protects from bollworms, cabbage loopers, and numerous other pests. It is applied alone or in combination with other insecticides at a dosage of 0.2-0.5 lb./acre. Most application is by air. 

Endrin from Cotton. While the application of endrin to cotton leads to runoff immediately to the field, dilution and degradation reduce the concentration to barely discernible levels (< 10 p.p.t.) within a short distance on a watercourse from the treated field. While a fraction of the endrin reaches the soil surface, the concentration does not accumulate by multiple sprays during the growing season. Endrin concentration in the mud of a watercourse receiving the runoff is low and was analytically nil in our tests. Fish taken in the same watercourse have barely detectable, if any, endrin. 

Figure 2. Drainage from endrin-treated cotton plot...

The concentration of endrin in the water held by the check dam (0.008 p.p.b.) was significantly less than could be accounted for by the 20-fold dilution factor. The water from this location does not drain into any waterways. Therefore, we believe that the water at the check dam is representative of water which may enter streams from cotton fields contiguous to them. 

Hazardous pesticides applied during cotton production can also be detected in cotton clothing. In 2004, a team of scientists based at the Technical University of Lodz analysed garments manufactured from cotton originating from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and USA. Their research uncovered detectable traces of parathion (WHO la) and endosulfan (WHO II), as well as numerous persistent organic pollutants such as aldrin, endrin and DDT. 

Tests were conducted to determine the concentrations of insecticides found in waterways, fish, and mud from a cotton field treated three times with endrin at 0.3 lb./acre, corn fields (soil) treated with 5 lb. aldrin/acre/year, and rice paddies (seed) treated at a rate equivalent to 4 oz. aldrin/ acre. Endrin in the soil did not exceed 0.04 p.p.m., even after subsequent sprayings. Runoff water from the cotton field showed only low concentrations of endrin and only 50 p.p.t. after the last spraying. Traces of endrin were found in fish but none in mud. Similarly, aldrin and dieldrin residues were also low. Residues in water from com fields or waterways draining rice fields did not exceed a few p.p.t. Residues in fish taken from waterways draining rice fields rarely exceeded 10 p.p.b. aldrin plus dieldrin. 

We started our tests in late July when the cotton was slightly less than hip high and gave an average ground cover of 80%. The cotton was sprayed with an aqueous emulsion at a dosage of 0.4 lb. of endrin per acre. In all, three applications were made, the first with a ground rig and the other two from a plane. 

Table VI. Residues in Water from Spraying a Cotton Field with 0.4 Lb./Acre of Endrin...

In general, it appears that normal sowing of aldrin-treated rice seed, spraying of cotton fields with endrin, or incorporation of aldrin into the soil of cornfields do not lead to a high degree of contamination of watercourses receiving drainage from the land masses on which these activities take place. 

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