Review Article. Organochlorine pesticides, their toxic effects on living organisms and their fate in the environment

Abstract

Organochlorine (OC) pesticides are synthetic pesticides widely used all over the world. They belong to the group of chlorinated hydrocarbon derivatives, which have vast application in the chemical industry and in agriculture. These compounds are known for their high toxicity, slow degradation and bioaccumulation. Even though many of the compounds which belong to OC were banned in developed countries, the use of these agents has been rising. This concerns particularly abuse of these chemicals which is in practice across the continents. Though pesticides have been developed with the concept of target organism toxicity, often non-target species are affected badly by their application. The purpose of this review is to list the major classes of pesticides, to understand organochlorine pesticides based on their activity and persistence, and also to understand their biochemical toxicity.

Studying of the interaction between peat humic acids and metazachlor using spectroscopy methods

“…Since pesticides have been commonly used and their half-time is rather long, their residues can now be found in every segment of the natural environment, including water (Tankiewicz et al 2010), soil (Aktar et al 2009), bottom sediments (Erkmen et al 2013), air (Zivana et al 2016), plants (Fantke et al 2011), and living organisms (Jayaraj et al 2016). Apart from their direct threat, the fact that pesticides reside in the environment, they can migrate within and between ecosystems.…”

Hyphenated dispersive solid‐ and liquid‐phase microextraction technique based on a hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent: application for trace analysis of pesticides in fruit juices

“…Despite all the advantages of using pesticides, they can pollute the environment and thus put human health in danger . Also, based on their high persistence and biological activity, pesticides can accumulate in living organs and cause acute and long‐term effects, and inherent toxicity . Fruits form a significant part of the human diet because they include essential nutrients and vitamins, but they can also be the origin of toxic components such as pesticides .…”

“…3 Also, based on their high persistence and biological activity, pesticides can accumulate in living organs and cause acute and long-term effects, and inherent toxicity. 4 Fruits form a significant part of the human diet because they include essential nutrients and vitamins, but they can also be the origin of toxic components such as pesticides. 5 Therefore, the European Commission (EC) has demarcated the maximum residue levels (MRLs) for pesticides for the purpose of protecting human health against exposure to pesticides.…”

Prediagnostic blood levels of organochlorines and risk of non‐Hodgkin lymphoma in three prospective cohorts in China and Singapore

“…Organochlorines (OCs) are a structurally diverse group of chlorinated hydrocarbons and environmentally persistent organic pollutants that have been extensively used as pesticides in agricultural settings, and for industrial applications worldwide . Environmental contamination resulting from OC use can be long lasting.…”

“…Organochlorines (OCs) are a structurally diverse group of chlorinated hydrocarbons and environmentally persistent organic pollutants that have been extensively used as pesticides in agricultural settings, and for industrial applications worldwide. 1 Environmental contamination resulting from OC use can be long lasting. For example, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), which was banned in the United States (U.S.) in 1972 but continues to be used in several countries for vector control, has a half-life of up tõ 30 years in the environment and has been detected at hundreds of hazardous waste sites in the U.S. 2,3 About 10 million tonnes (t) of the pesticide technical hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) are estimated to have been used worldwide from 1948 to 1997.…”