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International Journal of Environmental... Jan 2021Pesticides are indispensable in agricultural production. They have been used by farmers to control weeds and insects, and their remarkable increases in agricultural... (Review)
Review
Pesticides are indispensable in agricultural production. They have been used by farmers to control weeds and insects, and their remarkable increases in agricultural products have been reported. The increase in the world's population in the 20th century could not have been possible without a parallel increase in food production. About one-third of agricultural products are produced depending on the application of pesticides. Without the use of pesticides, there would be a 78% loss of fruit production, a 54% loss of vegetable production, and a 32% loss of cereal production. Therefore, pesticides play a critical role in reducing diseases and increasing crop yields worldwide. Thus, it is essential to discuss the agricultural development process; the historical perspective, types and specific uses of pesticides; and pesticide behavior, its contamination, and adverse effects on the natural environment. The review study indicates that agricultural development has a long history in many places around the world. The history of pesticide use can be divided into three periods of time. Pesticides are classified by different classification terms such as chemical classes, functional groups, modes of action, and toxicity. Pesticides are used to kill pests and control weeds using chemical ingredients; hence, they can also be toxic to other organisms, including birds, fish, beneficial insects, and non-target plants, as well as air, water, soil, and crops. Moreover, pesticide contamination moves away from the target plants, resulting in environmental pollution. Such chemical residues impact human health through environmental and food contamination. In addition, climate change-related factors also impact on pesticide application and result in increased pesticide usage and pesticide pollution. Therefore, this review will provide the scientific information necessary for pesticide application and management in the future.
Topics: Agriculture; Animals; Crops, Agricultural; Environmental Pollution; Humans; Pesticide Residues; Pesticides; Water Pollutants, Chemical
PubMed: 33513796
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18031112 -
Acta Neuropathologica Sep 2019Pesticides are unique environmental contaminants that are specifically introduced into the environment to control pests, often by killing them. Although pesticide... (Review)
Review
Pesticides are unique environmental contaminants that are specifically introduced into the environment to control pests, often by killing them. Although pesticide application serves many important purposes, including protection against crop loss and against vector-borne diseases, there are significant concerns over the potential toxic effects of pesticides to non-target organisms, including humans. In many cases, the molecular target of a pesticide is shared by non-target species, leading to the potential for untoward effects. Here, we review the history of pesticide usage and the neurotoxicity of selected classes of pesticides, including insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides, to humans and experimental animals. Specific emphasis is given to linkages between exposure to pesticides and risk of neurological disease and dysfunction in humans coupled with mechanistic findings in humans and animal models. Finally, we discuss emerging techniques and strategies to improve translation from animal models to humans.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Neurotoxicity Syndromes; Pesticides
PubMed: 31197504
DOI: 10.1007/s00401-019-02033-9 -
The ISME Journal Aug 2023The gut microbiota exist within a dynamic ecosystem shaped by various factors that includes exposure to xenobiotics such as pesticides. It is widely regarded that... (Review)
Review
The gut microbiota exist within a dynamic ecosystem shaped by various factors that includes exposure to xenobiotics such as pesticides. It is widely regarded that the gut microbiota plays an essential role in maintaining host health, including a major influence on the brain and behaviour. Given the widespread use of pesticides in modern agriculture practices, it is important to assess the long-term collateral effects these xenobiotic exposures have on gut microbiota composition and function. Indeed, exposure studies using animal models have shown that pesticides can induce negative impacts on the host gut microbiota, physiology and health. In tandem, there is a growing body of literature showing that the effects of pesticide exposure can be extended to the manifestation of behavioural impairments in the host. With the increasing appreciation of the microbiota-gut-brain axis, in this review we assess whether pesticide-induced changes in gut microbiota composition profiles and functions could be driving these behavioural alterations. Currently, the diversity of pesticide type, exposure dose and variation in experimental designs hinders direct comparisons of studies presented. Although many insights presented, the mechanistic connection between the gut microbiota and behavioural changes remains insufficiently explored. Future experiments should therefore focus on causal mechanisms to examine the gut microbiota as the mediator of the behavioural impairments observed in the host following pesticide exposure.
Topics: Animals; Pesticides; Brain-Gut Axis; Ecosystem; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Brain
PubMed: 37328570
DOI: 10.1038/s41396-023-01450-9 -
Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) 2023
Topics: Humans; Pesticides; Risk Assessment; Occupational Exposure; Environmental Exposure
PubMed: 37480641
DOI: 10.1016/j.clinsp.2023.100249 -
International Journal of Molecular... Nov 2023Pesticides are chemicals used in agriculture, forestry, and, to some extent, public health. As effective as they can be, due to the limited biodegradability and toxicity... (Review)
Review
Pesticides are chemicals used in agriculture, forestry, and, to some extent, public health. As effective as they can be, due to the limited biodegradability and toxicity of some of them, they can also have negative environmental and health impacts. Pesticide biodegradation is important because it can help mitigate the negative effects of pesticides. Many types of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and algae, can degrade pesticides; microorganisms are able to bioremediate pesticides using diverse metabolic pathways where enzymatic degradation plays a crucial role in achieving chemical transformation of the pesticides. The growing concern about the environmental and health impacts of pesticides is pushing the industry of these products to develop more sustainable alternatives, such as high biodegradable chemicals. The degradative properties of microorganisms could be fully exploited using the advances in genetic engineering and biotechnology, paving the way for more effective bioremediation strategies, new technologies, and novel applications. The purpose of the current review is to discuss the microorganisms that have demonstrated their capacity to degrade pesticides and those categorized by the World Health Organization as important for the impact they may have on human health. A comprehensive list of microorganisms is presented, and some metabolic pathways and enzymes for pesticide degradation and the genetics behind this process are discussed. Due to the high number of microorganisms known to be capable of degrading pesticides and the low number of metabolic pathways that are fully described for this purpose, more research must be conducted in this field, and more enzymes and genes are yet to be discovered with the possibility of finding more efficient metabolic pathways for pesticide biodegradation.
Topics: Humans; Pesticides; Biodegradation, Environmental; Bacteria; Fungi; Agriculture
PubMed: 37958952
DOI: 10.3390/ijms242115969 -
BMC Public Health Apr 2023Suicide is a major public health problem in Pakistan, accounting to approximately 19,331 deaths every year. Many are due to consumption of acutely toxic pesticides;... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
Suicide is a major public health problem in Pakistan, accounting to approximately 19,331 deaths every year. Many are due to consumption of acutely toxic pesticides; however, there is a lack of national suicide data, limiting knowledge and potential for intervention. In this paper, we aimed to review the literature on pesticide self-poisoning in Pakistan to identify the most problematic pesticides in relation to national pesticide regulations.
METHODS
Information on the currently registered and banned pesticides was obtained from Ministry of National Food Security and Research while data on pesticide import and use was extracted from FAOSTAT. We searched the following sources for articles and research papers on poisoning in Pakistan: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), Google Scholar, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), Excerpta Medica (EMBASE), National Library of Medicine's MEDLINE (PUBMED), PS102YCHINFO and Pakmedinet.com using the search terms 'self-poisoning', 'deliberate self-harm', 'suicide', 'methods and means of suicide', 'organophosphate', 'wheat pill', 'aluminium phosphide', 'acute poisoning', OR 'pesticides', AND 'Pakistan'.
RESULTS
As of May 2021, 382 pesticide active ingredients (substances) were registered in Pakistan, of which five were WHO hazard class Ia (extremely hazardous) and 17 WHO hazard class Ib (highly hazardous). Twenty-six pesticides, four formulations, and seven non-registered pesticides had been banned, of which two were WHO class Ia and five Ib. We identified 106 hospital-level studies of poisoning conducted in Pakistan, of which 23 did not mention self-poisoning cases and one reported no suicidal poisoning cases. We found no community or forensic medicine studies. Of 52,323 poisoning cases identified in these papers, 24,546 [47%] were due to pesticides. The most commonly identified pesticide classes were organophosphorus (OP) insecticides (13,816 cases, 56%) and the fumigant aluminium phosphide (3 g 56% tablets, often termed 'wheat pills'; 686 cases, 2.7%). Few studies identified the particular pesticides involved or the resulting case fatality.
CONCLUSION
We found pesticide poisoning to be a major cause of poisoning in Pakistan, with OP insecticides and the fumigant aluminium phosphide the main pesticides identified. Withdrawal of Class I pesticides (as proposed to occur nationally in 2022) and high concentration aluminium phosphide tablets should rapidly reduce suicidal deaths by reducing the case fatality for low-intention poisoning cases. National cause of death data and forensic toxicology laboratory data identifying the pesticides responsible for deaths will be important to assess impacts of the proposed national ban.
Topics: United States; Humans; Pesticides; Suicide; Insecticides; Aluminum; Eating
PubMed: 37041526
DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-15505-1 -
Advanced Science (Weinheim,... May 2022Pesticide overuse is a major global problem and the cause of this problem is noticeable pesticide loss from undesired bouncing of sprayed pesticide droplets and rain...
Pesticide overuse is a major global problem and the cause of this problem is noticeable pesticide loss from undesired bouncing of sprayed pesticide droplets and rain erosion. This further becomes a primary source of soil and groundwater pollution. Herein, the authors report a method that can enhance pesticide droplet deposition and adhesion on superhydrophobic plant leave surfaces by amyloid-like aggregation of bovine serum albumin (BSA). Through the reduction of the disulfide bond of BSA by tris(2-carboxyethyl) phosphine hydrochloride (TCEP), the amyloid-like phase transition of BSA is triggered that rapidly affords abundant phase-transitioned BSA (PTB) oligomers to facilitate the invasion of the PTB droplet into the nanostructures on a leaf surface. Such easy penetration is further followed by a robust amyloid-mediated interfacial adhesion of PTB on leaf surface. As a result, after mixing with pesticides, the PTB system exhibits a remarkable pesticide adhesion capacity that is more than 10 times higher than conventional fixation of commercial pesticides. The practical farmland experiments show that the use of PTB aggregation could reduce the use of pesticides by 70-90% while ensuring yield. This work demonstrates that current pesticide dosage in actual agriculture production may be largely reduced by utilizing eco-friendly amyloid-like protein aggregation.
Topics: Agriculture; Amyloid; Amyloidogenic Proteins; Pesticides; Protein Aggregates; Serum Albumin, Bovine
PubMed: 35257513
DOI: 10.1002/advs.202105106 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2023
Topics: Pesticide Residues; Public Health; Mycotoxins; Pesticides; Risk Assessment
PubMed: 38045984
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1293726 -
Annual Review of Entomology Jan 2024Bees are essential pollinators of many crops and wild plants, and pesticide exposure is one of the key environmental stressors affecting their health in... (Review)
Review
Bees are essential pollinators of many crops and wild plants, and pesticide exposure is one of the key environmental stressors affecting their health in anthropogenically modified landscapes. Until recently, almost all information on routes and impacts of pesticide exposure came from honey bees, at least partially because they were the only model species required for environmental risk assessments (ERAs) for insect pollinators. Recently, there has been a surge in research activity focusing on pesticide exposure and effects for non- bees, including other social bees (bumble bees and stingless bees) and solitary bees. These taxa vary substantially from honey bees and one another in several important ecological traits, including spatial and temporal activity patterns, foraging and nesting requirements, and degree of sociality. In this article, we review the current evidence base about pesticide exposure pathways and the consequences of exposure for non- bees. We find that the insights into non- bee pesticide exposure and resulting impacts across biological organizations, landscapes, mixtures, and multiple stressors are still in their infancy. The good news is that there are many promising approaches that could be used to advance our understanding, with priority given to informing exposure pathways, extrapolating effects, and determining how well our current insights (limited to very few species and mostly neonicotinoid insecticides under unrealistic conditions) can be generalized to the diversity of species and lifestyles in the global bee community. We conclude that future research to expand our knowledge would also be beneficial for ERAs and wider policy decisions concerning pollinator conservation and pesticide regulation.
Topics: Bees; Animals; Pesticides; Insecticides
PubMed: 37827173
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-040323-020625 -
The Science of the Total Environment Jun 2023Cultivation of mass flowering entomophilous crops benefits from the presence of managed and wild pollinators, who visit flowers to forage on pollen and nectar. However,...
Cultivation of mass flowering entomophilous crops benefits from the presence of managed and wild pollinators, who visit flowers to forage on pollen and nectar. However, management of these crops typically includes application of pesticides, the presence of which may pose a hazard for pollinators foraging in an agricultural environment. To determine the levels of potential exposure to pesticides, their presence and concentration in pollen and nectar need assessing, both within and beyond the target crop plants. We selected ten pesticide compounds and one metabolite and analysed their occurrence in a crop (Brassica napus) and a wild plant (Rubus fruticosus agg.), which was flowering in field edges. Nectar and pollen from both plants were collected from five spring and five winter sown B. napus fields in Ireland, and were tested for pesticide residues, using QuEChERS and Liquid Chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Pesticide residues were detected in plant pollen and nectar of both plants. Most detections were from fields with no recorded application of the respective compounds in that year, but higher concentrations were observed in recently treated fields. Overall, more residues were detected in B. napus pollen and nectar than in the wild plant, and B. napus pollen had the highest mean concentration of residues. All matrices were contaminated with at least three compounds, and the most frequently detected compounds were fungicides. The most common compound mixture was comprised of the fungicides azoxystrobin, boscalid, and the neonicotinoid insecticide clothianidin, which was not recently applied on the fields. Our results indicate that persistent compounds like the neonicotinoids, should be continuously monitored for their presence and fate in the field environment. The toxicological evaluation of the compound mixtures identified in the present study should be performed, to determine their impacts on foraging insects that may be exposed to them.
Topics: Bees; Plant Nectar; Pesticides; Pesticide Residues; Fungicides, Industrial; Chromatography, Liquid; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Neonicotinoids; Insecticides; Pollen; Crops, Agricultural
PubMed: 36958551
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162971