**1. Introduction**

#### **1.1. Background**

The consequences of pesticide pollution of soil and water can be extremely damaging for both the environment and human health. Chlordecone (CLD), an organochlorine insecticide (C10Cl10O), was used to control the banana black weevil more than twenty years ago in the French West Indies but continues to contaminate the environment today [1, 2]. CLD pollu‐ tion occurs in many parts of the world [3-5] and CLD is very persistent, sorptive and highly lipophilic [6]. Its persistence in soils is due to its low solubility in water [7], high affinity for organic matter with a *Koc* (soil organic carbon content/water partitioning coefficient) of be‐ tween 2.5 and 20 m3 kg-1 [1, 8], and to its chemical structure (Figure1), which makes it poorly biodegradable [9]. Similar characteristics are shared by all organochlorine pesticides and persistent organic pollutants.

CLD causes diffuse pollution in agricultural soils [10], which in turn become a continuous source of contamination for water resources, crops and animals [1, 3, 11, 12]. In addition, its long-term effects on human health and child development linked to the consumption of pol‐ luted food and water are now a serious concern [13-15].
