Abstract
Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests or weeds. The production and use of synthetic pesticides have been increasingly growing in recent years worldwide. Pesticides are designed to be toxic to specific groups of organisms, which bring benefits to humans. However, they have considerable adverse effects on other living creatures as well as environmental media including air, water, and soil. Pesticides can enter the human body via the skin, the mouth, and the lungs, thereby leading to diverse toxicity actions on humans. This chapter provides a brief overview of classification, toxicity, health effects, and environmental exposure of pesticides, as well as toxicity and mechanism of three major pesticides (organophosphorus, pyrethroid, and carbamate pesticides).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Marrs TC, Ballantyne B (2004) Pesticide toxicology and international regulation [M]. Wiley, Chichester
Damalas C, Koutroubas S (2016) Farmers’ exposure to pesticides: toxicity types and ways of prevention [J]. Toxics 4(1):1
Mostafalou S, Abdollahi M (2017) Pesticides: an update of human exposure and toxicity [J]. Arch Toxicol 91(2):549–599
Patel S, Sangeeta S (2019) Pesticides as the drivers of neuropsychotic diseases, cancers, and teratogenicity among agro-workers as well as general public [J]. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26(1):91–100
Kim K, Kabir E, Jahan SA (2017) Exposure to pesticides and the associated human health effects [J]. Sci Total Environ 575:525–535
Simeonov LI, Macaev FZ, Simeonova BG (2013) Environmental security assessment and management of obsolete pesticides in Southeast Europe [M]. Springer, Dordrecht
Colovic MB, Krstic DZ, Lazarevic-Pasti TD et al (2013) Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors: pharmacology and toxicology [J]. Curr Neuropharmacol 11(3):315–335
Mileson BE, Chambers JE, Chen WL et al (1998) Common mechanism of toxicity: a case study of organophosphorus pesticides [J]. Toxicol Sci 41(1):8–20
Mostafalou S, Abdollahi M (2018) The link of organophosphorus pesticides with neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases based on evidence and mechanisms [J]. Toxicology 409:44–52
Joshi P, Manoria P, Joseph D et al (2013) Acute myocardial infarction: can it be a complication of acute organophosphorus compound poisoning? [J]. J Postgrad Med 59(2):142–144
Costa LG (2018) Organophosphorus compounds at 80: some old and new issues [J]. Toxicol Sci 162(1):24–35
Jokanović M, Kosanović M, Brkić D et al (2011) Organophosphate induced delayed polyneuropathy in man: an overview [J]. Clin Neurol Neurosurg 113(1):7–10
Akçay Yalbuzdag Ş (2017) Organophosphate induced delayed neuropathy: a case report [J]. Türk Fiz Tıp Rehab Derg 63(1):88–91
Haliga RE, Morarasu BC, Ursaru M et al (2018) New insights into the organophosphate-induced intermediate syndrome [J]. Arch Ind Hyg Toxicol 69(2):191–195
Xia S. Pesticide toxicology [M]. Chemical Industry Press, Beijing
Miranda-Contreras L, Gomez-Perez R, Rojas G et al (2013) Occupational exposure to organophosphate and carbamate pesticides affects sperm chromatin integrity and reproductive hormone levels among Venezuelan farm workers [J]. J Occup Health 55(3):195–203
Recio-Vega R, Carnpo-Gomez G, Borja-Aburto VH et al (2008) Organophosphorus pesticide exposure decreases sperm quality: association between sperm parameters and urinary pesticide levels [J]. J Appl Toxicol 28(5):674–680
Butler-Dawson J, Galvin K, Thorne PS et al (2016) Organophosphorus pesticide exposure and neurobehavioral performance in Latino children living in an orchard community [J]. Neuro Toxicol 53:165–172
Abreu-Villaça Y, Levin ED (2017) Developmental neurotoxicity of succeeding generations of insecticides [J]. Environ Int 99:55–77
Zhang Y, Yang Z, Xie F et al (2014) Research advance of OPs neural development toxicity mechanism [J]. J Anhui Agric Sci 42(12):3561–3564
Timoroğlu İ, Yüzbaşıoğlu D, Ünal F et al (2014) Assessment of the genotoxic effects of organophosphorus insecticides phorate and trichlorfon in human lymphocytes [J]. Environ Toxicol 29(5):577–587
Soderlund DM, Clark JM, Sheets LP et al (2002) Mechanisms of pyrethroid neurotoxicity: implications for cumulative risk assessment [J]. Toxicology 171(1):3–59
Soderlund DM (2012) Molecular mechanisms of pyrethroid insecticide neurotoxicity: recent advances [J]. Arch Toxicol 86(2):165–181
Saillenfait A, Ndiaye D, Sabaté J (2015) Pyrethroids: exposure and health effects – an update [J]. Int J Hyg Environ Health 218(3):281–292
Laugeray A, Herzine A, Perche O et al (2017) In utero and lactational exposure to low-doses of the pyrethroid insecticide cypermethrin leads to neurodevelopmental defects in male mice—an ethological and transcriptomic study [J]. PLoS One 12(10):e184475
Shafer TJ, Meyer DA, Crofton KM (2005) Developmental neurotoxicity of pyrethroid insecticides: critical review and future research needs [J]. Environ Health Perspect 113(2):123–136
Li Q, Kobayashi M, Kawada T (2015) Carbamate pesticide-induced apoptosis in human T lymphocytes [J]. Int J Environ Res Public Health 12(4):3633–3645
Li Q, Kobayashi M, Kawada T (2014) Carbamate pesticide-induced apoptosis and necrosis in human natural killer cells [J]. J Biol Regul Homeost Agents 28(1):23–32
Rowe C, Gunier R, Bradman A et al (2016) Residential proximity to organophosphate and carbamate pesticide use during pregnancy, poverty during childhood, and cognitive functioning in 10-year-old children [J]. Environ Res 150:128–137
Popovska-Gorevski M, Dubocovich ML, Rajnarayanan RV (2016) Carbamate insecticides target human melatonin receptors [J]. Chem Res Toxicol 30(2):574–582
Soloneski S, Kujawski M, Scuto A et al (2015) Carbamates: a study on genotoxic, cytotoxic, and apoptotic effects induced in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells [J]. Toxicol In Vitro 29(5):834–844
Piel C, Pouchieu C, Migault L et al (2018) Increased risk of central nervous system tumours with carbamate insecticide use in the prospective cohort AGRICAN [J]. Int J Epidemiol 48:512–526
Dhouib I, Jallouli M, Annabi A et al (2016) From immunotoxicity to carcinogenicity: the effects of carbamate pesticides on the immune system [J]. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23(10):9448–9458
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Luo, R., Wu, C. (2019). Pesticides: Environmental Exposure, Toxicity, and Mechanism. In: Zhang, Y. (eds) Emerging Chemicals and Human Health. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9535-3_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9535-3_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-32-9534-6
Online ISBN: 978-981-32-9535-3
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)