Dataset of Contamination (2009–2022) Legacy Contaminants (PCB and DDT) in Zooplankton of Lake Maggiore (CIPAIS, International Commission for the Protection of Italian-Swiss Waters)

In this paper, we describe a 13-year (2009–2022) dataset of legacy POP concentrations (DDTtot and sumPCB14 from 2016 isomers and congeners concentrations are also reported) in the planktonic crustaceans of Lake Maggiore (≥450 µm size fraction). The data were collected in the framework of a monitoring program finalized to assess the presence of pollutants in the lake biota, including zooplankton organisms directly preyed by fish. The data report both concentration of DDTtot and sumPCB14 in the zooplankton and the standing stock density and biomass of the population in each season. The dataset allows for detecting changes in the concentration over the long term and within a year, thus providing evidence for the seasonal and the plurennial variations in the presence of these pollutants in the lake. They also provide a basis for further studies aimed at modeling paths and the fate of persistent organic pollutants, for which the amount of toxicants stocked in the zooplankton compartment linked to fish is a crucial estimate.