The Environment Ministry of the northeastern German state of Brandenburg has said that it found the harmful insecticide DDT in a vegetable sample from an organic farm in Ruednitz.
This is the second sample from Ruednitz that has been found to contain traces of DDT. Residual traces of the chemical were found in carrot samples from Ruednitz in September 2002. Levels of DDT in the samples were found to be above safe limits.
The Environment Ministry now plans to take samples of soil from former fruit growing areas in Brandenburg to test for traces of DDT, reported the German News Digest.
Ruednitz became contaminated in 1983 when fruit crops were sprayed with the insecticide, according to the Brandenburg Food Control and Inspection Authority.
The use of DDT was banned in Germany in 1972.
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