Environmental Exposure and Health Effects Associated with Malathion Toxicity

Abstract

Malathion O,O-dimethyl-S-, -bis ethoxy carbonyl ethyl phosphorodithionate is a non-systemic, wide-spectrum pesticide. It is widely used throughout the world for agricultural, residential, and public health purposes, mainly to enhance food production and to provide protection from disease vectors. Malathion preference over other organophosphate pesticides relates to its low persistence in the environment as it is highly susceptible to hydrolysis, photolysis, and biodegradation. However, numerous malathion poisoning incidents including acute and chronic cases have been reported among pesticide workers and small children through accidental exposure. Malathion toxicity is compounded by its reactive metabolites and also depends upon the product purity, route of exposure, nutritional status, and gender of exposed individuals. Its metabolic oxidation in mammals, insects, and plants leads to the formation of malaoxon which appears to be several times more acutely toxic and represents the primary cause of malathion's toxicity. Depending on the level of exposure, several signs and symptoms of toxicity including numbness, tingling sensation, headache, dizziness, difficulty breathing, weakness, irritation of skin, exacerbation of asthma, abdominal cramps, and death have been reported. Similar to other organophosphate pesticides, malathion exerts it toxic action by binding to acetylcholinesterase enzyme and inhibiting its activity, leading to accumulation of acetylcholine in synaptic junctions, which in turn results in overstimulation of cholinergic, muscarinic, and nicotinic receptors, and subsequent induction of adverse biologic effects. This chapter provides an update and analysis of the production and use, environmental occurrence, molecular mechanisms of toxicity, genotoxicity and carcinogenicity, and adverse human health effects associated with malathion exposure.

Organophosphate toxicity: updates of malathion potential toxic effects in mammals and potential treatments

“…Mammals can be adversely affected by MAL through nearly any route of exposure, including the oral ingestion of food and drinking water contaminated with MAL (Sapbamrer and Hongsibsong 2014;Akbel et al 2018), dermal absorption (Geng et al 2015b), conjunctival (Kamanyire and Karalliedde 2004), and respiratory exposure through occupational or nonoccupational during contact with contaminated soil and plants, working at pesticides factories, handling and applying of MAL, or from accidental spills (Machera et al 2003;Ozsoy et al 2016). Acute MAL toxicity occurs mostly orally (Esen and Uysal 2018); however, the major route of occupational exposure is the dermal one (Tchounwou et al 2015).…”

“…Regarding excretion, MAL and its metabolites have relatively low accumulation potential and are excreted primarily by the kidney, followed by the lung and the intestinal route (Waldron Lechner and Abdel-Rahman 1986;Tchounwou et al 2015). The metabolites excreted in the urine can be convenient biomarkers of occupational exposure since they represent an internal or absorbed dose and they require only few measurements to reliably estimate workers' exposure (Ross et al 2008).…”

Indikator Entomologi dan Status Resistensi Jentik dan Nyamuk Aedes Aegypti Terhadap Insektisida Rumah Tangga Di Tiga Kabupaten/Kota di Provinsi Sumatera Barat

“…Pada keadaan normal, asetilkolin dapat dinetralisir oleh enzim asetilkolinesterase, namun apabila tidak s e g e ra d i n e t ra l i s i r , m a k a o t o t a k a n 33 berkontraksi sehingga terjadi kekejangan. Piretroid merupakan inhibitor metabolisme respirasi yang bersifat sangat spesi ik, yaitu menyerang proses transpor elektron sehingga transmisi impuls saraf terhenti 31,33,34 (nerve conduction block).…”

Isolation and partial characterization of organophosphate pesticide degrading bacteria from soil sample of Noakhali, Bangladesh

“…Malathion irreversibly inactivates acetylcholine esterase (AChE) at various sites resulting in an accumulation and continued action of neurotransmitter acetylcholine at postsynaptic sites and may cause spasms, in coordination, convulsions, paralysis and ultimately death to non-target species of soil and surface water 4,5 .It has been estimated that approximately less than1% of the total applied pesticides reach to their target pests 6 .This result in accumulation of high levels of its residues and toxic intermediates in soil, surface water and ground water by bulk handling in the farmyard and the rinsing of containers [6][7] . These health and environmental concerns have prompted researches focusing on detoxification and removal of residual malathion from soil and water.…”