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Chemosphere Jun 2022Pesticides are widely used in agriculture, households, and industries; however, they have caused severe negative effects on the environment and human health. To clean up... (Review)
Review
Pesticides are widely used in agriculture, households, and industries; however, they have caused severe negative effects on the environment and human health. To clean up pesticide contaminated sites, various technological strategies, i.e. physicochemical and biological, are currently being used throughout the world. Biological approaches have proven to be a viable method for decontaminating pesticide-contaminated soils and water environments. The biological process eliminates contaminants by utilizing microorganisms' catabolic ability. Pesticide degradation rates are influenced by a variety of factors, including the pesticide's structure, concentration, solubility in water, soil type, land use pattern, and microbial activity in the soil. There is currently a knowledge gap in this field of study because researchers are unable to gather collective information on the factors affecting microbial growth, metabolic pathways, optimal conditions for degradation, and genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic changes caused by pesticide stress on the microbial communities. The use of advanced tools and omics technology in research can bridge the existing gap in our knowledge regarding the bioremediation of pesticides. This review provides new insights on the research gaps and offers potential solutions for pesticide removal from the environment through the use of various microbe-mediated technologies.
Topics: Biodegradation, Environmental; Humans; Pesticides; Proteomics; Soil; Soil Pollutants; Water
PubMed: 35149016
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.133916 -
Environmental Geochemistry and Health Aug 2023Pesticides are widely employed in rice crops since the ecosystem and surroundings of paddy promote insects, weeds, and fungal and bacterial pathogens. Each commonly... (Review)
Review
Pesticides are widely employed in rice crops since the ecosystem and surroundings of paddy promote insects, weeds, and fungal and bacterial pathogens. Each commonly utilised pesticide possesses different uses. For instance, fungicides control fungal issues, herbicides curb weed growth, and insecticides destroy and repel insects. Although several ways to categorise them exist, pesticides are typically classified according to their chemical compositions. Rice production remains one of the most dominant crops grown in most Southeast Asian countries as it is a staple food. Nonetheless, the crop is highly dependent on pesticides, leading to growing concerns over the potential adverse effects of pesticides on the environment and human health. Despite the availability of numerous studies on the subject, a comprehensive understanding of the specific effects of pesticides on paddy fields in Southeast Asia is still lacking. Consequently, reviewing existing knowledge is necessary for synthesising and identifying research gaps to better inform policymakers, farmers, and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector. The objectives of the present review paper were to review the interactions between pesticides and the environment by understanding the physical and chemical properties of the chemicals, compare pesticide transportation modes in air, water, and soil and how they affect the environment, and evaluate and discuss the effects of pesticides on non-targeted organisms. This study assessed pesticide innovation reported between 1945 and 2021 for a better understanding of the utilisation of the chemicals over time. The pesticides assessed in this study were classified based on their chemical compounds, such as organochlorines, organophosphates, carbamates, and pyrethroid. This review could provide a comprehensive understanding of the interactions between pesticides and the environment and their impacts on non-targeted organisms.
Topics: Humans; Pesticides; Ecosystem; Herbicides; Insecticides; Asia, Southeastern; Crops, Agricultural
PubMed: 37380923
DOI: 10.1007/s10653-023-01668-8 -
International Journal of Environmental... Dec 2021On the African continent, ongoing agriculture intensification is accompanied by the increasing use of pesticides, associated with environmental and public health... (Review)
Review
On the African continent, ongoing agriculture intensification is accompanied by the increasing use of pesticides, associated with environmental and public health concerns. Using a systematic literature review, we aimed to map current geographical research hotspots and gaps around environmental and public health risks research of agriculture pesticides in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Studies were included that collected primary data on past and current-used agricultural pesticides and assessed their environmental occurrence, related knowledge, attitude and practice, human exposure, and environmental or public health risks between 2006 and 2021. We identified 391 articles covering 469 study sites in 37 countries in SSA. Five geographical research hotspots were identified: two in South Africa, two in East Africa, and one in West Africa. Despite its ban for agricultural use, organochlorine was the most studied pesticide group (60%; 86% of studies included DDT). Current-used pesticides in agriculture were studied in 54% of the study sites (including insecticides (92%), herbicides (44%), and fungicides (35%)). Environmental samples were collected in 67% of the studies (e.g., water, aquatic species, sediment, agricultural produce, and air). In 38% of the studies, human subjects were investigated. Only few studies had a longitudinal design or assessed pesticide's environmental risks; human biomarkers; dose-response in human subjects, including children and women; and interventions to reduce pesticide exposure. We established a research database that can help stakeholders to address research gaps, foster research collaboration between environmental and health dimensions, and work towards sustainable and safe agriculture systems in SSA.
Topics: Agriculture; Child; Environmental Exposure; Female; Humans; Insecticides; Longitudinal Studies; Pesticides; South Africa
PubMed: 35010520
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19010259 -
Journal of the American Society For... Oct 2022The identification of pesticide residues is a critical application in environmental and food safety analysis. The most common methods for pesticide residue detection and...
The identification of pesticide residues is a critical application in environmental and food safety analysis. The most common methods for pesticide residue detection and quantification are performed with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LCMS) using instruments with varying architectures and characteristics. Pesticides have diverse structural and elemental compositions and often require laborious instrument-specific user optimization to identify ideal adducts and fragment ions. While pesticide transition libraries can be purchased from instrument vendors, little of this information exists in the public domain. The Open Pesticide Transition Library (oPestTL) is an effort to compile a comprehensive list of pesticide ion targets and fragments to facilitate the rapid development of screening methods for any LCMS hardware configuration. While a work that must inevitably evolve, the oPestTL library release detailed here contains over 4,000 individual transitions spread across seven separate LCMS platforms making it the largest openly available collection of pesticide methods ever assembled. The oPestTL library can be freely downloaded or interrogated through an open web application: https://proteomicsnews.shinyapps.io/oPestTLv104/.
Topics: Chromatography, Liquid; Food Contamination; Pesticide Residues; Pesticides; Tandem Mass Spectrometry
PubMed: 36154004
DOI: 10.1021/jasms.2c00150 -
Journal of Environmental Science and... 2019Greenhouses are enclosed structures which have various characteristics that enhance crop productivity, but the implications for workers' pesticide exposure and uptake... (Review)
Review
Greenhouses are enclosed structures which have various characteristics that enhance crop productivity, but the implications for workers' pesticide exposure and uptake are not well understood. A narrative literature review was conducted to explore the mechanism/s of interactions between greenhouse characteristics and occupational pesticide exposure. Using a "work", "worker" and "workplace" conceptual framework, the greenhouse environment (hot and humid microclimate, limited space and dense crop arrangements) combines with work characteristics (high work and pesticide use intensity, multi-tasking, predominantly manual spraying techniques and quick reentry to treated farms) to potentially increase occupational pesticide exposure, compared with open field farming. Greenhouse environments, are variable but have been shown to influence pesticide availability, route, pathways and frequency of exposure, deposition and distribution on a worker's body as well as use and performance of exposure control methods. Training programs can emphasize the differences in exposure potential between greenhouse and open field farming. Development of tailored guidelines for exposure control strategies to better suit the level of uniqueness of greenhouse agriculture seems warranted.
Topics: Agriculture; Farmers; Farms; Humans; Occupational Exposure; Pesticides
PubMed: 31264928
DOI: 10.1080/03601234.2019.1634972 -
Archives of Microbiology Apr 2022The imprudent use of agrochemicals to control agriculture and household pests is unsafe for the environment. Hence, to protect the environment and diversity of living... (Review)
Review
The imprudent use of agrochemicals to control agriculture and household pests is unsafe for the environment. Hence, to protect the environment and diversity of living organisms, the degradation of pesticides has received widespread attention. There are different physical, chemical, and biological methods used to remediate pesticides in contaminated sites. Compared to other methods, biological approaches and their associated techniques are more effective, less expensive and eco-friendly. Microbes secrete several enzymes that can attach pesticides, break down organic compounds, and then convert toxic substances into carbon and water. Thus, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the functional genes and genomic potential of microbial species for the removal of emerging pollutants. Here we address the knowledge gaps by highlighting systematic biology and their role in adaptation of microbial species from agricultural soils with a history of pesticide usage and profiling shifts in functional genes and microbial taxa abundance. Moreover, by co-metabolism, the microbial species fulfill their nutritional requirements and perform more efficiently than single microbial-free cells. But in an open environment, free cells of microbes are not much prominent in the degradation process due to environmental conditions, incompatibilities with mechanical equipment and difficulties associated with evenly distributing inoculum through the agroecosystem. This review highlights emerging techniques involving the removal of pesticides in a field-scale environment like immobilization, biobed, biocomposites, biochar, biofilms, and bioreactors. In these techniques, different microbial cells, enzymes, natural fibers, and strains are used for the effective biodegradation of xenobiotic pesticides.
Topics: Acclimatization; Biodegradation, Environmental; Environmental Pollutants; Pesticides; Soil
PubMed: 35482163
DOI: 10.1007/s00203-022-02899-6 -
Food Chemistry Aug 2022Pesticides are indispensably essential in agricultural practices. Traditional pesticides and environmentally friendly pesticides both are used to control the damage... (Review)
Review
Pesticides are indispensably essential in agricultural practices. Traditional pesticides and environmentally friendly pesticides both are used to control the damage caused by pests and diseases. Conventional procedures were carried out to detect pesticide residues using chromatography and spectrophotometric techniques. Innovative extractions (micro-extraction) and detection technologies (biosensors, screening cards, etc.) have been developed for faster and more efficient screening of pesticide compounds in plant-derived foodstuffs. The present review summarized the trends of pesticide occurrence in plant-derived foodstuffs, and discussed the advances in pesticides detection. Also, the pesticide dissipation and the mechanism of action are discussed. The extensive literature review demonstrates various techniques already in use or having futuristic potential for detecting and dissipating pesticides in foodstuffs, which can pave the way for future research efforts.
Topics: Biosensing Techniques; Pesticide Residues; Pesticides
PubMed: 35189435
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.132494 -
Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi = Zhongguo... Jun 2022Chinese medicinal materials are the precious resources of China and favored by patients at home and abroad because of their natural sources and curative effects.... (Review)
Review
Chinese medicinal materials are the precious resources of China and favored by patients at home and abroad because of their natural sources and curative effects. Pesticides are often used to prevent and control diseases and insect pests and regulate the growth of Chinese medicinal plants, so as to improve the yield and quality of Chinese medicinal materials. Most of the pesticides can play a role in pest control through systemic action, stomach toxicity, contact, fumigation and other ways, especially the systemic pesticides can kill hidden pests by entering the Chinese medicinal plants. Despite the good pest control effect, it is difficult to remove the systemic pesticides by simple cleaning, which poses a great risk to the safety of Chinese medicinal materials. At the same time, excessive or non-standard use of pesticides leads to serious pesticide residues in Chinese medicinal materials, which affects not only the quality and efficacy of the materials and harm human health but also the international development of Chinese medicinal materials industry. Pesticide residues have become a bottleneck affecting the industry development and hindering the export of Chinese medicinal materials. Therefore, it is of great significance to study how to quickly, sensitively, and accurately detect and remove pesticide residues in Chinese medicinal materials. We reviewed the common pesticide residues in Chinese medicinal materials in recent years in terms of characteristics, harm, and detection and removal techniques, and discussed the future development of the detection and removal deve-lopment. With this review, we aimed to provide a reference for the quality control of Chinese medicinal materials and promote the healthy development of Chinese medicine industry.
Topics: Fumigation; Humans; Medicine, Chinese Traditional; Pesticide Residues; Pesticides; Plants, Medicinal
PubMed: 35718510
DOI: 10.19540/j.cnki.cjcmm.20211209.102 -
International Journal of Environmental... Sep 2020Pesticides pose a significant risk to humans and the environment. This paper analyzes the measures used to manage pesticides in Malawi. Malawi's regulatory authority of... (Review)
Review
Pesticides pose a significant risk to humans and the environment. This paper analyzes the measures used to manage pesticides in Malawi. Malawi's regulatory authority of pesticides, the Pesticides Control Board (PCB), faces a number of challenges including lack of facilities for analyzing pesticides and inadequate personnel to conduct risk assessment of pesticides. The PCB needs to provide access to information and opportunities among the public to make contributions regarding requirements, processes and policies for assessing pesticide risk and efficacy. There is also a need to enhance the capacity of PCB to assess pesticide poisoning in workers, monitor pesticide residues in food and environmental contamination, as well as to control the illegal importation and sale of pesticides. Just like in other countries such as South Africa, India and Sri Lanka, Malawi urgently needs to implement measures that can restrict the importation, production, sale and use of very toxic pesticides. Malawi also needs to develop measures for the effective management of pesticide waste containers as well as obsolete pesticides, where potential solutions include reducing the purchase of (unneeded) pesticides, treatment of obsolete pesticides in high-temperature cement kilns, as well as requesting pesticide dealers to adopt life-cycle management of their products.
Topics: Commerce; Environmental Exposure; Environmental Monitoring; Humans; Malawi; Pesticides
PubMed: 32942751
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17186727 -
Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology Jun 2021The increase in the size of the global population increases the food and energy demand, making the use of pesticides in agricultural and livestock industries... (Review)
Review
The increase in the size of the global population increases the food and energy demand, making the use of pesticides in agricultural and livestock industries unavoidable. Exposure to pesticides can be toxic to the non-target species, such as humans, wildlife, and livestock, in addition to the target organisms. Various chemicals are used in the livestock industry to control harmful organisms, such as insects, weeds, and parasites. Pigs are one of the most important food sources for humans. In addition, pigs can be used as promising models for assessing the risk of absorption of environmental pollutants through the skin and oral exposure since they are physiologically similar to humans. Exposure to numerous environmental pollutants, such as mycotoxins, persistent organic pollutants, and heavy metals, has been reported to adversely affect growth, fertility, and endocrine homeostasis in pigs. Various pesticides have been observed in porcine tissues, blood, urine, and processed foods; however, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of their effects on porcine health. This review provides a comprehensive description of the characteristics of pesticides that pigs can be exposed to and how their exposure affects porcine reproductive function, intestinal health, and endocrine homeostasis in vivo and in vitro.
Topics: Agriculture; Animals; Environmental Exposure; Environmental Pollutants; Pesticides; Swine
PubMed: 33993968
DOI: 10.1016/j.pestbp.2021.104850