Use of passive samplers to detect organochlorine pesticides in air and water at wetland mountain region sites (S-SE Brazil)

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) passive samplers were deployed in upland surface waters and the overlying atmosphere during May and June 2012, to determine the transport and trends of freely dissolved and gaseous organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) along altitudinal gradients in mountain regions in south and southeast Brazil. Gaseous OCP concentrations were dominated by hexachlorobenzene (3.0–29 pg m−3) and endosulfans (Ʃ = α-endosulfan + β-endosulfan + endosulfan sulphate, 170–260 pg m−3), whereas freely dissolved endosulfans were significantly higher than all other OCPs (p