Pesticide residues in rain water from Hisar, India Beena Kumari & V. K. Madan & T. S. Kathpal Received: 18 May 2006 / Accepted: 29 December 2006 / Published online: 1 February 2007 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2007 Abstract Presence of pesticide residues was studied in rain water during 2002 employing multi residue analysis method by gas liquid chromatography equipped with ECD and NPD detectors and capillary columns. The presence of pesticide residues in surface aquatic system triggered the investigation of the presence of pesticides in rain water. A total of 13 pesticides were detected in rain water samples. Among the different groups of pesticides, organochlorines were present in the range of 0.041–7.060 ppb with maximum concentration of p,p’-DDT up to 7.060 μg l -1 . Synthetic pyrethroids were present ranging from 0.100 to 1.000 μgl -1 and organophosphates in the range of 0.050–4.000 μgl -1 showing maximum contamination with cypermethrin (1.000 μgl -1 ) and monocrotophos (4.000 μg l -1 ) of the respective groups. Almost 80% samples showed the residues above MRL of 0.5 ppb fixed for multi residues and on the basis of single pesticide, 16–50% samples con- tained residues above the MRL value of 0.1 ppb. Keywords Rain water . Monitoring . Multiresidues . Gas liquid chromatograph (GLC) . Maximum residue limit (MRL) Introduction A word without water is difficult to imagine. It is vital for drinking, sanitation, agriculture, industry and countless other purposes. Since it is known that pesticides used in agricultural practices may appear in the rain because of the volatilization of compounds applied on soil and plant. Contamination of air and rain may have consequences for the ecotoxicological and toxicological judgment of pesticides because they may be widely distributed and may affect all ecosystem compartments (i.e. water, drinking water) but if the polluted water is used then it brings disease and death to those who drink it and other forms of life that needs to survive. Contamination of water resources is a common phenomenon now a days. Besides the other pollutants, pesticide residues are also one of the dominant contaminant of water as lot of pesticides are used to combat the insect–pest complex of agriculture and other fields related to health programme. In India, total 186 pesticides are registered under the Indian Insecticide Act 1968. Their injudicious use leads to build up of toxic residues in crop produce as well as environmental components and if their residues exceed the pre- scribed maximum residue limits (MRL) then it cause a great threat to pesticide industry and policy makers of the country. Particularly pesticides like organo- chlorines leave residues that stay in the environment without breaking down for a long time and thus have Environ Monit Assess (2007) 133:467–471 DOI 10.1007/s10661-006-9601-2 B. Kumari (*) : V. K. Madan : T. S. Kathpal Department of Entomology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India e-mail: beena@hau.ernet.in