Pyrethroid,
a pesticide widely used worldwide, could mimic, block,
or synergize the effects of endogenous hormones in humans or mammals
after entering into the atmosphere and after being sprayed and applied
in large quantities. This research aims to study the mechanism, kinetics,
and eco-toxicity evaluation of the ozonolysis of permethrin (PER)one
of the typical pyrethroid (type I) pesticides. Existing experimental
studies only predicted that ozonolysis of PER could generate a cycloperoxy
analogue of PER (IM13-1-11), and the reaction mechanism has not yet
been completed. To make up for the lack of experimental results, the
13 primary reaction pathways of PER and ozone, as well as the subsequent
reactions of Criegee intermediates with small molecules such as NO
x
, CO
x
, SO2, and O2, have been studied to propose new reaction
paths by quantum chemical calculations in this work. We calculated
the total reaction rate constant of PER and ozone at 298 K and 1 atm
based on the calculated thermodynamic data and the transition state
theory (TST), which was compared with the experimental values to prove
the reliability of our results. Based on the quantitative structure
and activity relationship, we predicted the acute and chronic toxicity
of PER and its products of ozonolysis to three representative organismsfish,
daphnia, and green algae to avoid animal experiments. The results
show that ozonolysis products of PER are still extremely harmful to
the environment and should be taken seriously, although the products
have less toxicity than PER.