Pesticides: Transatlantic Movements in the Northeast Trades

Abstract

Concentrations of chlorinated hydrocarbons in airborne dust carried by the trade winds from the European-African land areas to Barbados range from less than 1 to 164 parts per billion. The lower limit of the average content of 1 cubic meter of air is 7.8 x 10-(14) gram. The contributions of river-borne and atmospherically transported pesticides to parts of the marine environment are calculated approximately and comtpared. The amnounts of pesticides contributed to the tropical Atlantic by the trade winds appear to be comparable to those carried to the sea by major river systems.