ABSTRACT
Several studies (Garay et al., 1994) have been conducted by the Oceanographic and Hydrographic Research Center of the Colombian Navy (Centro de Investigaciones Oceanográficas e Hidrográficas or CIOH) in conjunction with other international entities, namely IAEA, UNESCO, IOC (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission), and the University of Miami, in Cartagena Bay and La Virgen (a coastal lagoon located just north of Cartagena Bay). Sources, concentrations and distributions of pesticides were determined and evaluated, with special emphasis on OCs due to their long-term persistence in the environment (Tables 13.8 and 13.9). In 1980, CIOH and the University of Miami conducted a monitoring study of Cartagena Bay (Table 13.8) (Pagliardini et al., 1982). Water, sediment, and organism samples contained OC pesticides, viz. DDT and its metabolites, aldrin, heptachlor epoxide, dieldrin, and endrin, with a mean concentration of 0.32 µg L-1. An accidental spill of an unknown quantity of Lorsban® 4E occurred at the Dow Quimica facilities in Cartagena Bay on June 19, 1989 (El Universal,1989). Chlorpyrifos, the a. i. of this insecticide formulation, polluted the bay and killed thousands of fish. An evaluation of its environmental damage is still in progress. Cartagena Bay is also in communication with the Magdalena River through the Canal del Dique. The Magdalena River, which flows through Colombia’s most important agricultural areas, receives agricultural pesticide runoff and carries this load to both Cartagena Bay and its mouth.
