TYPES OF PESTICIDES :ORGANOCHLORINES CARBAMATES ORGANOPHOSPHATES PYRETHROIDS

8/18/2011

TYPES OF PESTICIDES

 An organochloride, organochlorine, chlorocarbon, or chlorinated solvent is an organic compound containing at least one covalently bonded chlorine atom.

 Their wide structural variety and divergent chemical properties lead to a broad range of applications. Many derivatives are controversial because of the effects of these compounds on the environment.

Many pesticides contain chlorine. Notable examples include DDT, dicofol, heptachlor, endosulfan, chlordane, mirex, and pentachlorophenol. These can be either hydrophilic or hydrophobic depending on their molecular structure. Many of these agents have been banned in various countries, e.g. mirex, aldrin.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were once commonly used during the previous decade Their use has generally been phased out due to health concerns.

Some types of organochlorides have significant toxicity to plants or animals, including humans. Some insecticides such as DDT are persistent organic pollutants which pose dangers when they are released into the environment.

For example, DDT, which was widely used to control insects in the mid 20th century, also accumulates in aquatic food chains. Because the body is not able to break down or dispose of it, and it interferes with calcium metabolism in birds, there were severe declines in some bird predator populations

Rachel Carson brought the issue of DDT pesticide toxicity to public awareness with her 1962 book Silent Spring.

While many countries have phased out the use of some types of organochlorides such as the US ban on DDT, persistent DDT, PCBs, and other organochloride residues continue to be found in humans and mammals across the planet many years after production and use have been limited.

In Arctic areas, particularly high levels are found in marine mammals. These chemicals concentrate in mammals, and are even found in human breast milk. Males typically have far higher levels, as females reduce their concentration by transfer to their offspring through breast feeding.

An organophosphate (sometimes abbreviated OP) is the general name for esters of phosphoric acid. Phosphates are probably the most pervasive organophosphorus compounds. Organophosphates are also the basis of many insecticides, herbicides, and nerve gases.

Organophosphates are widely employed both in natural and synthetic applications because of the ease with which organic groups can be linked together.

Esterification entails the attachment of organic groups to phosphorus through oxygen linkers. The precursors to such esters are alcohols. Encompassing many thousands of natural and synthetic compounds, alcohols are diverse and widespread

In health, agriculture, and government, the word "organophosphates" refers to a group of insecticides or nerve agents acting on the enzyme acetylcholine(the pesticide group carbamates also act on this enzyme, but through a different mechanism).

The term is OP used often to describe virtually any organic phosphorus(V)containing compound, especially when dealing with neurotoxic compounds. Many of the so-called organophosphates contain C-P bonds.

For instance, sarin is O-isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate, which is formally derived from phosphorous acid (HP(O)(OH)2),are infamous as neurotoxic insectisides.

Many organophosphates are potent nerve agents, functioning by inhibiting the action of acetylcholine (AChE) in nerve cells.

They are one of the most common causes of poisoning worldwide, and are frequently intentionally/accidentally are cause of deaths in agricultural areas. Their toxicity is not limited to the acute phase, however, and chronic effects have long been noted. Neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine (which is affected by organophosphate pesticides) are profoundly important in the brain's development, and many OPs have neurotoxic effects on developing organisms, even from low levels of exposure. Signs of organophosphate poisoning include: salivation lacrimation urinary incontinence defecation GI upset/diarrhea Eventually leading to long term effects of paralysis and loss of coordination.

Carbamates, or urethanes, are a group of organic compounds sharing a common functional group with the general structure R1-O-(CO)NR2-R3.

A group of insecticides also contains the carbamate functional group, including aldicarb, carbofuran, furadan, fenoxycarb,  These insecticides can cause cholinesterase inhibition poisoning by reversibly inactivating the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. The organophosphate pesticides also inhibit this enzyme, though irreversibly, and cause a more severe form of cholinergic poisoning.

A pyrethroid is a synthetic chemical compound similar to the natural chemical pyrethrins produced by the flowers of pyrethrums (Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium and C. coccineum).

Pyrethroids now constitute a major proportion of the synthetic insecticide market and are common in commercial products such as household insecticides. In the concentrations used in such products, they may also have insect repellent properties and are generally harmless to human beings but can harm sensitive individuals.

They are usually broken apart by sunlight and the atmosphere in one or two days, and do not significantly affect groundwater quality except for being toxic to fish.

HARMFUL EFFECTS OF PESTICIDES

Theory of Endocrine disruption The the ry f e cri e isr ti ex lai s that l - se ex s re t che icals that i teract ith hor one rece tors can interfere ith re roduction, development, and other hormonally mediated processes.

Furthermore, since endogenous hormones are present in the ody relatively tiny concentrations of any of the foreign chemicals ould create an imbalance hich ould eventually lead to disruption of the function of the hormone in specific.

Thus, an endocrine disruptor might be able to elicit adverse effects at a much lower doses than a toxicant acting through a different mechanism.

There are studies of cell cultures, laboratory animals, wildlife, and accidentally exposed humans that show that environmental chemicals cause a wide range of reproductive, developmental, growth, and behavior effects,

endocrine disruption in humans by pollutant chemicals remains largely undemonstrated, because of lack of transfer of knowledge

While compounds that produce estrogenic, androgenic, antiandrogenic, and antithyroid actions have been studied, less is known about interactions with other hormones. But, foetus and embryos, whose growth and development are highly controlled by the endocrine system, are more vulnerable to exposure and may suffer overt or subtle lifelong health and/or reproductive abnormalities.

Prebirth exposure, in some cases, can lead to permanent alterations and adult diseases.

There is concern by some in the scientific community that exposure to endocrine disruptors in the womb or early in life may be associated with neuro developmental disorders including reduced IQ, and autism

All people are exposed to chemicals with estrogenic effects in their everyday life, because endocrine disrupting chemicals are found in low doses in literally thousands of products.

Chemicals commonly detected in people include DDT, Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's), Bisphenol A, Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE's), and a variety of Phthalates.

Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) was first used as a pesticide against Colorado potato beetles on crops beginning in 1936.

An increase in the incidence of malaria, epidemic typhus, dysentery, and typhoid fever led to its use against the mosquitoes, lice, and houseflies that carried these diseases.

As early as 1946, the harmful effects of DDT on bird, beneficial insects, fish, and marine invertebrates were seen in the environment. The most infamous example of these effects were seen in the eggshells of large predatory birds, which did not develop to be thick enough to support the adult bird sitting on them.

Twenty years after its widespread use, DDT was found trapped in ice samples taken from Antarctic snow, suggesting wind and water are another means of environmental transport.Recent studies show the historical record of DDT deposition on remote glaciers in the Himalayas. More than sixty years ago when biologists began to study the effects of DDT on laboratory animals, it was discovered that DDT interfered with reproductive development.

Recent studies suggest DDT may inhibit the proper development of female reproductive organs that adversely affects reproduction into maturity.

Additional studies suggest that a marked decrease in fertility in adult males may be due to DDT exposure. Most recently, it has been suggested that exposure to DDT in uterus can increase a child's risk of childhood obesity.

Endosulfan is a organochlorine compound that is used as an insecticide

This colourless solid has emerged as a highly controversial agrichemical[1] due to its acute toxicity, potential for bioaccumulation, and role as an endocrine disruptor. Banned in more than 50 countries, including the European Union and several Asian and West African nations, it is still used extensively in many other countries including India, Brazil, and Australia.

It is produced by Bayer CropScience, Makhteshim Agan, and government-of-Indiaowned Hindustan Insecticides Limited among others.

Because of its threats to the environment, a global ban on the use and manufacture of endosulfan is being considered under the Stockholm Convention.[3]

Endosulfan has been used in agriculture around the world to control insect pests including whiteflys, aphids, leafhoppers, Colorado potato beetles and cabbage worms. It has also seen use in wood preservation, home gardening, and tse-tse fly control, though it is not currently used for public health purposes.

Endosulfan is acutely neurotoxic to both insects and mammals, including human .It is a GABA-gated chloride channel antagonist, and a Ca2+, Mg2+ ATPase inhibitor. Both of these enzymes are involved in the transfer of nerve impulses. Symptoms of acute poisoning include include hyperactivity, tremors, convulsions, lack of coordination, staggering, difficulty breathing, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, and in severe cases, unconsciousness.Doses as low as 35 mg/kg have been documented to cause death in humans.

India the world's largest user of endosulfan.

In 2001, in Kerala, India, endosulfan spraying became suspect when linked to a series of abnormalities noted in local children.Initially endosulfan was banned, yet under pressure from the pesticide industry this ban was largely revoked. The situation there has been called "next in magnitude only to the Bhopal gas tragedy."

Other countries like Australia USA New Zealand , Philippines and Taiwan have already banned this homicide agent.

SUPER BUGS :-PESTICIDE RESISTANCE

Pesticide resistance is the adaptation of pest species targeted by a pesticide resulting in decreased susceptibility to that chemical. In other words, pests develop a resistance to a chemical through selection; after they are exposed to a pesticide for a prolonged period it no longer kills them as effectively. The most resistant organisms are the ones to survive and pass on their genetic traits to their offspring.

Pesticides that fail to break down quickly and remain in the area contribute to selection for resistant organisms even after they are no longer being applied.

In response to pesticide resistance, farmers may resort to increased use of pesticides, exacerbating the problem. In addition, when pesticides are toxic toward species that feed on or compete with pests, the pest population will likely expand further, requiring more pesticides. This is sometimes referred to as pesticide trap,or a pesticide treadmill, since farmers are continually paying more for less benefit.

In US, studies have shown that fruit flies that infest orange groves were becoming resistant to malathion, a pesticide used to kill them. In Hawaii and Japan, the diamondback moth developed a resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis about three years after it began to be used heavily. In England, rats in certain areas have developed such a strong resistance to rat poison that they can consume up to five times as much of it as normal rats without dying.

In the southern United States, the weed Amaranthus palmeri, which interferes with production of cotton, has developed widespread resistance to the herbicide .

CONCLUSION