Hazardous Pesticides Research Articles

Effects on Puberty of Nutrition-Mediated Endocrine Disruptors Employed in Agriculture.

Pesticide residues are largely found in daily consumed food because of their extensive use in farming and their long half-life, which prolongs their presence in the environment. Many of these pesticides act as endocrine-disrupting chemicals after pre- or postnatal exposure, significantly affecting, among other things, the time of puberty onset, progression, and completion. In humans, precocious or delayed puberty, and early or delayed sexual maturation, may entail several negative long-term health implications. In this review, we summarize the current evidence on the impact of endocrine-disrupting pesticides upon the timing of the landmarks of female and male puberty in both animals (vaginal opening, first estrus, and balanopreputial separation) and humans (thelarche, menarche, gonadarche). Moreover, we explore the possible mechanisms of action of the reviewed endocrine-disrupting pesticides on the human reproductive system. Access to safe, healthy, and nutritious food is fundamental for the maintenance of health and wellbeing. Eliminating the presence of hazardous chemicals in largely consumed food products may increase their nutritional value and be proven beneficial for overall health. Consequently, understanding the effects of human exposure to hazardous endocrine-disrupting pesticides, and legislating against their circulation, are of major importance for the protection of health in vulnerable populations, such as children and adolescents.

Nanocellulose-Based Materials for Water Treatment: Adsorption, Photocatalytic Degradation, Disinfection, Antifouling, and Nanofiltration.

Nanocelluloses are promising bio-nano-materials for use as water treatment materials in environmental protection and remediation. Over the past decades, they have been integrated via novel nanoengineering approaches for water treatment processes. This review aims at giving an overview of nanocellulose requirements concerning emerging nanotechnologies of waster treatments and purification, i.e., adsorption, absorption, flocculation, photocatalytic degradation, disinfection, antifouling, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and reverse osmosis. Firstly, the nanocellulose synthesis methods (mechanical, physical, chemical, and biological), unique properties (sizes, geometries, and surface chemistry) were presented and their use for capturing and removal of wastewater pollutants was explained. Secondly, different chemical modification approaches surface functionalization (with functional groups, polymers, and nanoparticles) for enhancing the surface chemistry of the nanocellulose for enabling the effective removal of specific pollutants (suspended particles, microorganisms, hazardous metals ions, organic dyes, drugs, pesticides fertilizers, and oils) were highlighted. Thirdly, new fabrication approaches (solution casting, thermal treatment, electrospinning, 3D printing) that integrated nanocelluloses (spherical nanoparticles, nanowhiskers, nanofibers) to produce water treatment materials (individual composite nanoparticles, hydrogels, aerogels, sponges, membranes, and nanopapers) were covered. Finally, the major challenges and future perspectives concerning the applications of nanocellulose based materials in water treatment and purification were highlighted.

Green photosensitisers for the degradation of selected pesticides of high risk in most susceptible food: A safer approach.

Pesticides are the leading defence against pests, but their unsafe use reciprocates the pesticide residues in highly susceptible food and is becoming a serious risk for human health. In this study, mint extract and riboflavin were tested as photosensitisers in combination with light irradiation of different frequencies, employed for various time intervals to improve the photo-degradation of deltamethrin (DM) and lambda cyhalothrin (λ-CHT) in cauliflower. Different source of light was studied, either in ultraviolet range (UV-C, 254 nm or UV-A, 320–380 nm) or sunlight simulator (> 380–800 nm). The degradation of the pesticides varied depending on the type of photosensitiser and light source. Photo-degradation of the DM and λ-CHT was enhanced by applying the mint extracts and riboflavin and a more significant degradation was achieved with UV-C than with either UV-A or sunlight, reaching a maximum decrement of the concentration by 67–76%. The light treatments did not significantly affect the in-vitro antioxidant activity of the natural antioxidants in cauliflower. A calculated dietary risk assessment revealed that obvious dietary health hazards of DM and λ-CHT pesticides when sprayed on cauliflower for pest control. The use of green chemical photosensitisers (mint extract and riboflavin) in combination with UV light irradiation represents a novel, sustainable, and safe approach to pesticide reduction in produce.

Prediction of mango hopper, Idioscopus nitidulus (Walker) using hybrid modelling in Konkan region


 Mango hopper, Idioscopus nitidulus is the most destructive pest of mango in the India. Thus, aim of the study was to develop precise and easy early population prediction model of mango hopper for tropical mansoon climate conditions. Weekly occurrence data of mango hopper, I. nitidulus during five consecutive years (2014 to 2018) was used for developing hybrid of multiplicative seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) and artificial neural network (ANN) model. The population of I. nitidulus increases in the month of January-February on flower panicles and October-November on new vegetative shoots in the region. The linearity in the time series data was best fitted with SARIMA (0, 0, 2) × (0, 1, 1)52 model as their correlation values are not outside the confidence intervals (CI) limits. Further ANN modeling was done for fitting the SARIMA residuals. The fitted values of model prediction and the actual values of year 2017-2018 flowering season (SMW36-52 of 2017 and SMW 1-13 of 2018) were used for testing of prediction efficiency. The performance of the two models in respect to model fitting and effectiveness of SARIMA and hybrid SARIMA-ANN model was compared by evaluating diagnostic statistics of MSE, RMSE, MAE and MAPE. The best fitted developed hybrid model in present study and the data predicted by model was matched with actual data of mango hopper incidence during the year 2017-18. Hybrid model developed in this study will help to predict hoppers population in advance, thus provide a direction for planning of timely prevention and development of effective management strategies which will help to minimize the use of hazardous pesticides.

Pesticide effects on nitrogen cycle related microbial functions and community composition

The extensive application of pesticides in agriculture raises concerns about their potential negative impact on soil microorganisms, being the key drivers of nutrient cycling. Most studies have investigated the effect of a single pesticide on a nutrient cycling in single soil type. We, for the first time, investigated the effect of 20 commercial pesticides with different mode of actions, applied at their recommended dose and five times their recommended dose, on nitrogen (N) microbial cycling in three different agricultural soils from southern Australian. Functional effects were determined by measuring soil enzymatic activities of β-1,4-N-acetyliglucosaminidase (NAG) and l-leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), potential nitrification (PN), and the abundance of functional genes involved in N cycling (amoA and nifH). Effects on nitrifiers diversity were determined with amplicon sequencing. Overall, the pesticides effect on N microbial cycling was dose-independent and soil specific. The fungicides flutriafol and azoxystrobin, the herbicide chlorsulfuron and the insecticide fipronil induced a significant reduction in PN and β-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase activity (P < 0.05) (NAG) in the alkaline loam soil with low organic carbon content i.e. a soil with properties which typically favors pesticide bioavailability and therefore potential toxicity. For the nitrifier community, the greatest pesticide effects were on the most dominant Nitrososphaeraceae (ammonia-oxidizing archaea; AOA) whose abundance increased significantly compared to the less dominant AOA and other nitrifiers. The inhibiting effects were more evident in the soil samples treated with fungicides. By testing multiple pesticides in a single study, our findings provide crucial information that can be used for pesticide hazard assessment.

Challenges for Pesticide Regulation and Use

Many farmers still apply a wide range of pesticides, but are exposed to some which are highly hazardous to use. Is there sufficient legislation and control of pesticide use to remove these pesticides? Even applying the less hazardous pesticides, farmers need to be better trained to improve their application and minimise exposure to the chemicals. The use of chemical pesticides has increased immensely over the last 80 years, since the development of DDT, with a range of many other insecticides, fungicides and herbicides being marketed. Although legislation to control the use of insecticides had been introduced in the USA back in 1910, it was only after World War II that other countries began to start registration of pesticides and WHO created a Classification based on the toxicity of the chemicals. More recently there has been greater concern about the extent to which certain pesticides, especially those rated as Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs) have been used. WHO estimates that there are 1.6 million deaths per year from poisoning by chemicals. There are other problems, such as the herbicide glyphosate, use of which has expanded with farmers growing maize, soybean and cotton crops genetically modified to provide tolerance to this weedkiller. The use of this herbicide has resulted in many court cases claiming it use results in ill health.

Ensuring the purity of water resources in the Don River basin

Uncontrolled levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which are prohibited for use under the POPs Convention, are the environmental concerns and, when applied on a large scale, will disrupt entire ecosystems. The identification of their impact on the purity of water resources is relevant and affects the planning of water supply for the population and the economy, the justification of water management measures and the redistribution of water resources within the basin. The aim of the research was to identify the content of hazardous pesticides in the surface waters of water bodies of the river basin Don. The data on the concentrations of α-, γ-hexochlorocyclohexane (HCCH), dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT), dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethane (DDE), trifluralin, parathion methyl, karbofos, and fosalon were analyzed in surface waters and bottom sediments. It is noted that organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are found in most places (up to ’100%) and in the number of samples in the bottom sediments of the surface waters of the Don River. It is significant that in the water of water bodies of the Don basin, including in the Don River, the detection frequency of the most active γ-HCCH is detected more often than α-HCCH. In the context of the projected increase in fresh water consumption in the Don River Basin, measures are being discussed to protect water resources from pollution.

Sublethal effects of chlorantraniliprole on Paederus fuscipes (Staphylinidae: Coleoptera), a general predator in paddle field

Paederus fuscipes is a general predator in rice fields and a non-target organism of chlorantraniliprole, an effective insecticide for insect-pest control in paddy fields. Pesticide hazards to non-target organisms have been a growing global problem for decades. This study was designed to evaluate the toxicity of chlorantraniliprole at lethal and sublethal levels against P. fuscipes larvae and adults. The LC50 of chlorantraniliprole against P. fuscipes adults and larvae were respectively 535.49 and 111.24 mg a.i. L−1, which is higher than the dosage recommended for use in the field (59.38 mg a.i. L−1), but the LC30 and LC10 for larvae are lower than the recommended field dose which showed that the sublethal effects on immature stages are inevitable. Treatment at larval stage with LC30 of chlorantraniliprole significantly elongated the pre-imaginal developmental and pre-oviposition periods. Also, adults exposed directly to chlorantraniliprole oviposited significantly less number of eggs in both LC10 and LC30 treatments. Furthermore, the larval predation efficiency and female bodyweight were also reduced due to exposure to sublethal doses. Meanwhile, the activities of antioxidant (SOD, POD and CAT) and detoxification (P450, AChE and GST) enzymes were also significantly affected by the exposure to these sublethal concentrations. These findings showed that sublethal doses of chlorantraniliprole adversely influenced P. fuscipes development and physiology, and therefore its use as part of integrative pest management should be given further considerations.

Water-stable Al-TCPP MOF nanosheets with hierarchical porous structure for removal of chlorantraniliprole in water

The present work described the construction of a highly-efficient and stable adsorbent for removing hazardous pesticide from water. Water-stable metal-organic framework (MOF) nanosheets with three-dimensional (3D) structure, named as Al-TCPP nanosheets, were fabricated using aluminum (III) chloride hexahydrate and tetrakis (4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin as the monomers with the assistance of a cetyltrimethylammonium bromide. Al-TCPP nanosheets and bulk crystals were comprehensively characterized to explore their differences in morphologies, microstructures and porous properties. Al-TCPP nanosheets kept the original crystal structure with an average thickness of ~17 nm. They also displayed excellent hydrophilic property, water stability and hierarchical porous structure with the surface area of 1359 m2 g−1, which were beneficial to the adsorption of chlorantraniliprole. Adsorption experiments were carried out and the maximum adsorption capacity of chlorantraniliprole on Al-TCPP nanosheets achieved 371.91 mg g−1, which was obviously higher than that of the bulk crystals (222.11 mg g−1). The disparity should be attributed to the hierarchical porous structures and highly exposed active sites of nanosheets. These results illuminate that MOF nanosheets can be a promising material for the adsorption of hazardous contaminants in water treatment.

Analysis of banned or severely restricted chemicals and pesticides entering the Russian market under the Rotterdam Convention on the prior informed consent procedure for certain hazardous chemicals and pesticides in international trade

Introduction. In recent years, due to the stricter requirements for compliance with the provisions of the Rotterdam Convention, the volume of export notifications on the permission to import dangerous chemicals into the Russian Federation has increased significantly. Therefore, the purpose of our research was to analyze the nomenclature, volume, toxicity and danger of industrial chemicals and pesticides entering the Russian market, despite prohibitions or restrictions on their use at the international and national levels. Materials and methods. The materials used are applications for the import of chemical products (export notifications) of the National Designated authorities of the European Union, China, Great Britain, Serbia to the Russian Register of Potentially Dangerous Chemical and Biological Substances-a branch of the Federal State Scientific Research Center named after F.F. Erisman - in the period from 2018 to 2020. The year 2019 was considered in the most detail. Results and discussion. The analysis of applications showed an ever-increasing number of chemical supplies; for example, 130 notifications were received in 2018, 539 in 2019, and 565 in 2020. In 2019, the number of tin compounds prevailed in the nomenclature of imported products to the territory of the Russian Federation. As for the substances from Annex III of the Rotterdam Convention, most of the imported chemicals by tonnage were substances included in this document - 1,2-dibromoethane (EDB), carbofuran, ethylene oxide, ethylene dichloride (1,2-dichloroethane), which are imported for industrial use, and not for use as pesticides, as they are declared in the convention. Chemicals and pesticides imported into the country under the PIC procedure, with the exception of numerous derivatives of dibutyl - and dioctyltin, creosote, have an established hygienic standard in at least one human habitat. In most cases, they are assigned to hazard classes 1 and 2 according to the maximum permissible concentration. Conclusion. Chemical products that are highly dangerous for human health and the environment, which are banned or severely restricted in many states, caused specific and long-term effects on the body, and having high toxicity to natural biota are used in the Russian Federation economy. In this regard, there is a need to develop regulatory decisions at the national level and within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Commission on the prohibition or restriction of the circulation of substances and pesticides characterized by an unacceptable risk of exposure.

Neurobehavioral, neuromotor, and neurocognitive effects in agricultural workers and their children exposed to pyrethroids pesticides: A review

BACKGROUND AND AIM: In recent years, pyrethroids have emerged as a less toxic alternative to eliminate insect pests. However, some studies with animals and others with children show that these pesticides are toxic and lead to neurobehavioral effects similar to other pesticides such as organophosphates. The purpose of this review is to systematize and analyze the epidemiological scientific evidence about the neurobehavioral, neuromotor, and neurocognitive effects in agricultural workers and their children exposed to pyrethroids pesticides. METHODS: We conducted two searches (with different terms) in PubMed and Scopus databases including articles in Spanish and English language on the effects of occupational exposure to pyrethroid pesticides associated with the neurobehavioral, neuromotor, and neurocognitive functioning of agricultural workers and their children. There were no filters by year, and the search included studies till march 2021. To develop the search, we followed the recommendations contained in the PRISMA guidelines and the PICO strategy. RESULTS:The results show that in 66.6% of the studies reviewed (8 of 12 studies), agricultural workers or their children occupationally exposed to pyrethroid pesticides have a higher risk of presenting difficulties in their neurocognitive, neuromotor, or neurobehavioral performance, mainly associated with attention, processing speed (linked to hand-eye coordination) and motor coordination. CONCLUSIONS:There are still few studies about this issue. However, the quality of most of the research conducted (83% intermediate or high quality) confirms the risk for agricultural workers' neurobehavioral health due to occupational exposure to pyrethroids. More research is required evaluating the exposure to pyrethroids including biomarkers and validated neurobehavioral and neuromotor tests, in addition to evaluating the effect of simultaneous exposure to other hazardous pesticides. Assuming that pyrethroids' use is increasing considerably and faster than the scientific evidence, it is suggested as a precautionary principle to regulate more strictly the sale of pyrethroids and other pesticides. KEYWORDS: Pesticides, Occupational exposures, Neurobehavioral effects

Analysis of the worker´s health surveillance in the vector control program in Mexico

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The vector control program in Mexico has authorized about twenty pesticides in the last decade; some of them have been categorized as Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHP) under the extended criteria of the International Pesticide Action Network in 2019. The only guideline for occupational exposures (NOM-047-SSA1-2011) specifically establishes reference values for exposure to acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AchI) and an operative document guides the monitoring of the workers’ exposure to AchI. The aim of this study was to analyze the interpretation and implementation of these policies from the perspective of both workers and directors of the vector control program. METHODS: A mixed methods research was conducted in four states of Mexico including semi-structured interviews and data on pesticide amounts applied and the workers’ results for plasmatic acetylcholinesterase activity analysis (PAch) collected from the states’ registries. RESULTS:There is a varied and extended use of HHP in the vector control program and the risk perception of the occupational exposure to pesticides varies between directors and workers. Women mainly apply pesticides by hand while men spray them; thus PAch activity determinations are primarily done in men, as they are considered to have higher exposure. The processes for monitoring occupational exposure to AchI are different amongst the states, though none of them estimate the individual biological index of exposure (BIE) as established by the guideline. We found significant differences between the PAch activity values in women compared to men, while there were no significant differences when comparing the BIE by sex. CONCLUSIONS:The knowledge about the policies related to workers’ health surveillance have to be strengthened, and there is an urgent need to enhance the content of the existing policies in order to include the multiple, combined and long term occupational exposure of workers in the vector control program in Mexico. KEYWORDS: Biomarkers of exposure, Pesticides, Policy, Policy and practice, Chemical exposures, Occupational exposures.

The pesticide health risk index - An application to the world's countries

While the use of pesticides continues to rise worldwide, our understanding of the pervasiveness of associated contamination and the health risks humans may be exposed to remain limited to small samples size, and based on small geographic scales, the exposed population, or the pesticide types. Using our recent mapping of global pesticide use, we quantify three complementary health risk metrics for 92 active ingredients: (i) the pesticide hazard load (PHL); (ii) the population exposure (PE); and (iii) the human intake relative to the acceptable dose (INTR). We integrated these metrics into the pesticide health risk index (PHRI) to assess the standing of 133 nations against the global averages of PHL and PE and the acceptable levels of INTR using data of 2015 (PHRI > 1 indicates a concern). We found that some low-toxicity ingredients have PHL values equivalent to high-toxicity ones, and hence neglecting low-toxicity ingredients may cause biases in risk assessments. The geography of PHL, PE, and INTR show hotspots across the Americas, East and South Asia, and Europe, but with the EU27 countries generally showing lower PHL than other countries possibly due to strict governance on pesticide use. By our measure, about 1.7 billion people (24% of the world population) reside in close proximity to where pesticide applications are greater than 100 kg-a.i. km−2 year−1; about 2.3 billion people (32% of the world population) may exceed the acceptable pesticide intake and about 1.1 billion (15% of the world population) may exceed this by 10 fold. We identified 36 countries with PHRI > 1 and 6 countries with PHRI > 5; of these countries, 10 belong to lower-middle and low income economies. Our analyses show that proximity exposure to pesticides may be more widespread than revealed in occupational studies, and therefore assessments of potential health effects over wider scales may be needed.

Case Fatality as an Indicator for the Human Toxicity of Pesticides—A Systematic Scoping Review on the Availability and Variability of Severity Indicators of Pesticide Poisoning

Objective: To investigate if case fatality and other indicators of the severity of human pesticide poisonings can be used to prioritize pesticides of public health concern. To study the heterogeneity of data across countries, cause of poisonings, and treatment facilities. Methods: We searched literature databases as well as the internet for studies on case-fatality and severity scores of pesticide poisoning. Studies published between 1990 and 2014 providing information on active ingredients in pesticides or chemical groups of active ingredients were included. The variability of case-fatality-ratios was analyzed by computing the coefficient of variation as the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean. Findings: A total of 149 papers were identified of which 67 could be included after assessment. Case-fatality-ratio (CFR) on 66 active ingredients and additionally on 13 groups of active ingredients were reported from 20 countries. The overall median CFR for group of pesticides was 9%, for single pesticides 8%. Of those 12 active ingredients with a CFR above 20% more than half are WHO-classified as “moderately hazardous” or “unlikely to present acute hazard”. Two of seven pesticides considered “unlikely to present hazard in normal use” showed a CFR above 20%. The cross-study variability of reported case fatality was rather low. Studies most often utilized the Glasgow Coma Score for grading the severity of poisoning. Conclusion: Although human pesticide poisoning is a serious public health problem, an unexpectedly small number of publications report on the clinical outcomes within our study period. However, CFRs of acute human pesticide poisoning are available for several groups of pesticides as well as for active ingredients showing moderate cross-study variability. Our results underline that CFR is an indicator of the human toxicity of pesticides and can be utilized to prioritize highly hazardous pesticides especially since there is limited correspondence between the animal-test-based hazard classification and the human CFR of the respective pesticide. The reporting of available poisoning data should be improved, human case-fatality data are a reasonable tool to be included systematically in the periodic statutory review of pesticides and their regulation.

A web-based system for fungus disease risk assessment in greenhouses: System development

Nowadays, there is a great need and public concern for reduced use of hazardous pesticides in horticulture and implementation of alternative approaches for rational pests and diseases suppression. This goal is approached by integrating crop protection measures and non-chemical measures or applying crop protection products only when needed, thus eliminating unnecessary applications. In addition, preventive farm management methods such as optimal management of the aerial environment in greenhouses with sufficient installed technology may provide adequate disease suppression, as the grower can avoid conditions that favour pests and fungus development. Aim of this study is the development of a web-based decision support system (DSS) that estimates the risk for a fungi disease outbreak in a greenhouse. The disease development risk assessment is based on disease models already available in the literature that correlate the rate of disease development to crop microclimate conditions and cultivation practices. Up to now such models were mainly used for the disease development risk assessment based on past or historical data. A strong point of the work is related to the fact that the DSS makes use of the outside climate forecast to predict the greenhouse microclimate conditions during a set of days that will follow. Then, based on the predicted microclimate inside the greenhouse the Botrytis disease development models are used to assess the potential risk for disease development in a greenhouse tomato crop during the following days. The greenhouse microclimate is estimated based on the outside weather forecast for the region of the greenhouse, the greenhouse energy and vapour balance, the greenhouse control concept and methodology, the climate control equipment and the greenhouse climate set points. The last part of the DSS, contains a tactical and strategical tool that, according to the risk assessment, suggests climate control actions to prevent fungi development for preventive and optimal disease control. Such a DSS can then be included in disease management systems to assist growers to decide when to proceed to a certain action in order to modify the conditions that favour the development of a disease, or if necessary, when to apply the proper permitted plant protection products. In this work, the development of the DSS and the results of the validation process of the microclimate predicted values are presented.

Assessment of the risk of death of Clarias gariepinus and Oreochromis niloticus pulse-exposed to selected agricultural pesticides

Aquatic organisms are often exposed briefly to high pesticide concentration. Survival time model was used to study risk of death in C. gariepinus and O. niloticus fingerlings exposed to 24 mg/L atrazine, 42 mg/l mancozeb, 1 mg/L chlorpyrifos and 0.75 µg/L lambda cyhalothrin for 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes and continuously for 96 hours. Mortality, time-to-death, weight, length, and condition factor of the fingerlings were recorded. Results obtained showed tilapia was more susceptible than catfish to continuous exposure but not pulse exposure. The survival probability of both species was similar when exposed for 15, 30 and 45 minutes (p > 0.05) but differed after 60 minutes (p < 0.05). Risk of death of catfish exposed briefly to atrazine, mancozeb and chlorpyrifos for 60 minutes was similar to 96 hours continuous exposure, same for tilapia exposed to 1 mg/L chlorpyrifos (p > 0.05). Survival probability of tilapia exposed to chlorpyrifos for 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes was similar (p > 0.05) and was not influenced by pulse length. Pesticide hazard and risk of death decreased as fish size (weight, length, and condition factor) increased. Pulse toxicity assessment using survival models could make pesticides exposure assessment more realistic by studying factors that can influence the toxicity of pesticides.

Omics technologies used in pesticide residue detection and mitigation in crop

In agriculture, the convenience and efficacy of chemical pesticides have become inevitable to manage cultivated crop production. Here, we review the worldwide use of pesticides based on their categories, mode of actions and toxicity. Excessive use of pesticides may lead to hazardous pesticide residues in crops, causing adverse effects on human health and the environment. A wide range of high-tech-analytical methods are available to analyse pesticide residues. However, they are mostly time-consuming and inconvenient for on-site detection, calling for the development of biosensors that detect cellular changes in crops. Such new detection methods that combine biological and physicochemical knowledge may overcome the shortage in current farming to develop sustainable systems that support environmental and human health. This review also comprehensively compiles domestic pesticide residues removal tips from vegetables and fruits. Synthetic pesticide alternatives such as biopesticide and nanopesticide are greener to the environment. However, its safety assessment for large-scale application needs careful evaluation. Lastly, we strongly call for reversions of pesticide application trends based on the changing climate, which is lacking in the current scenario.

Pesticide residues in food: health risk and regulation in Veracruz, Mexico

Objective. Evaluate compliance with the maximum permissible limits for pesticide residues in food in the state of Veracruz, as well as the risk to human health due to its consumption. Materials and methods. The concentration of pesticide residues in plant products were measured for comparison with the values established as safety limits and the regulatory framework for the use of pesticides. The hazard quotient and its possible effect on health were calculated. Results. 14.8% of the samples exceeded the allowed concentration. We found banned pesticides (methamidophos, monochotophos, triazophos and chlorpyrifos) that exceeded the established references dose, which increase the risk of possible neurological, hepatotoxic and endocrine alterations in health. Conclusions. There is the presence of highly hazardous pesticides, which are prohibited by international environmental conventions due to their impact on health and the environment, which is why their elimination is necessary. The regulatory framework in Mexico must be updated and dynamic as the knowledge of the adverse health effects of pesticides advances.

Intentional pesticide poisoning and pesticide suicides in Nepal

Introduction Intentional pesticide poisoning is a major clinical and public health problem in agricultural communities in low and middle income countries like Nepal. Bans of highly hazardous pesticides (HHP) reduce the number of suicides. We aimed to identify these pesticides by reviewing data from major hospitals across the country and from forensic toxicology laboratories. Methods We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 10 hospitals for pesticide poisoned patients and two forensic laboratories of Nepal from April 2017 to February 2020. The poison was identified from the history, referral note, and clinical toxidrome in the hospitals and from gas chromatography analysis in the laboratories. Data on demographics, poison, and patient outcome were recorded on a data collection sheet. Simple descriptive analysis was performed. Results Among hospital cases (n = 4148), the commonest form of poisoning was self-poisoning (95.8%) while occupation poisoning was rare (0.03%). Case fatality was 5.3% (n = 62). Aluminum phosphide (n = 38/62, 61.3%) was the most commonly identified lethal pesticide for deaths. Forensic toxicology laboratories reported 2535 deaths positive for pesticides, with the compounds most commonly identified being organophosphorus (OP) insecticides (n = 1463/2535; 57.7%), phosphine gas (n = 653/2535; 25.7%; both aluminum [11.8%] and zinc [0.4%] phosphide) and organochlorine insecticides (n = 241/2535; 9.5%). The OP insecticide most commonly identified was dichlorvos (n = 273/450, 60.6%). Conclusion The data held in the routine hospital medical records were incomplete but suggested that case fatality in hospitals was relatively low. The pesticides identified as causing most deaths were dichlorvos and aluminum phosphide. Since this study was completed, dichlorvos has been banned and the most toxic formulation of aluminum phosphide removed from sale. Improving the medical record system and working with forensic toxicology laboratories will allow problematic HHPs to be identified and the effects of the bans in reducing deaths monitored.

Pesticides: Undisputed Hazards for Environmental Health

Airborne pesticides are now disseminated over vast regions of the planet even where they were not spilled, remotely from its preceding source. Their deleterious effects have been sensed overwhelmingly increasing all along with the shifts provoked in the nature, fauna, and flora derangements’, regardless from where they come from either disseminated by air or water sources. They will insidiously, gently, or harshly impact the living beings (target and non-target organisms). Their effects will certainly be massive for those exposed and, consequently, at danger of death, extinction, or damage (grow retardation, physiological or behavioural shortages), the most vulnerable and susceptible individuals or species being quenched. The endocrine deleterious responses to adults as compared to the embryonic/fetal/neonatal responses have been described. Changes in the hormonal system development are often irreversible, in contrast to reversible changes induced by the exposure to transient hormones in adults. The toxic effects start as the pesticides get into the lungs or in the equivalent blood-water/air exchanging system. In mammals, birds and reptiles breathed air entering through the noses touch the sinus cavities, it irritates their fragile membranes as, in response, may lead to an inflammation as it also can occur topically. In the pesticides risk assessment, hormesis can have significant practical impact, because this concept assumes the existence of limits for doses higher than the hormetic ones; and its acceptance would therefore erroneously lead to modification in the current practice of cancer risk assessment. Thus, long run health advance may succeed by replacing hazardous pesticides by sustainable biopesticides and along with other non-poisoning methods.