Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fate and Impact of Pesticides: Environmental and Human Health Issues

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Nutrition and Human Health

  • 510 Accesses

Abstract

The widespread use of pesticides and agrochemicals in general to control pests and weeds has grown during the last century. Because of the exponentially increasing human population, the need to duplicate the yields of crops in order to ensure adequate food availability maintains pressure on the use of these protection chemicals. However, the environment is badly affected by their application which could become a threat to ecosystems biodiversity. Furthermore, several characteristics such as local weather conditions, soils and groundwater quality, application devices, and atmospheric process may affect the fate of a pesticide, its persistence, and mobility by reaching regions far away from the application areas. The present chapter aims to discuss the use of pesticides and their beneficial and harmful effects, pointing out the potential risk of human exposure. The main issues related to pesticide residues and their environmental fate are also described.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anju A, Ravi SP, Bechan S (2010) Water pollution with special reference to pesticide contamination in India. Water Resour Prot 2:432–448

    Google Scholar 

  • Arias-Estévez M, López-Periago E, Martínez-Carballo E et al (2008) The mobility and degradation of pesticides in soils and the pollution of groundwater resources. Agric Ecosyst Environ 123:247–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Barratt BIP, Moran VC, Bigler F et al (2018) The status of biological control and recommendations for improving uptake for the future. BioControl 63(1):155–167

    Google Scholar 

  • Barriuso E, Laird DA, Koskinen WC et al (1994) Atrazine desorption from smectites. Soil Sci Soc Am J 58:1632–1638

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Barthel E (1981) Increased risk of lung cancer in pesticide-exposed male agricultural workers. J Toxicol Environ Health Part A 8(5–6):1027–1040

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bedi JS, Singh V, Gupta A et al (2018) Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in fresh water farm fish species from Punjab (India) and evaluation of their dietary intake for human risk assessment. Hum Ecol Risk Assess 24(6):1659–1672

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Béné C, Barange M, Subasinghe R et al (2015) Feeding 9 billion by 2050–putting fish back on the menu. Food Secur 7:261–274

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonner MR, Alavanja MC (2017) Pesticides, human health, and food security. Food Energy Secur 6(3):89–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonner MR, Freeman LEB, Hoppin JA et al (2016) Occupational exposure to pesticides and the incidence of lung cancer in the agricultural health study. Environ Health Perspect 125(4):544–551

    Google Scholar 

  • Campos É, Freire C (2016) Exposure to non-persistent pesticides and thyroid function: a systematic review of epidemio Meeker logical evidence. Int J Hyg Environ Health 219(6):481–497

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Carvalho FP (2017) Pesticides, environment, and food safety. Food Energy Secur 6(2):48–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang CC, Wei SY, Huang SD (2011) Improved solvent collection system for a dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction of organochlorine pesticides from water using low-density organic solvent. J Sep Sci 34(7):837–843

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chevrier C, Warembourg C, Gaudreau E et al (2013) Organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, seafood consumption, and time-to-pregnancy. Epidemiol J:251–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook ND, Lewis JN (2015) The pesticide problem: an economic approach to public policy. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook JL, Baumann P, Jackman JA et al (1995) Pesticides characteristics that affect water quality. Farm Chem Handbook 95:429

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixit S, Srivastava MP, Sharma YK (2019) Pesticide and human health: a rising concern of the 21st century. Handbook of Research on the Adverse Effects of Pesticide Pollution in Aquatic Ecosystems. IGI Global, pp 85–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Dupraz V, Ménard D, Akcha F et al (2019) Toxicity of binary mixtures of pesticides to the marine microalgae Tisochrysis lutea and Skeletonemamarinoi: substance interactions and physiological impacts. Aquat Toxicol 211:148–162

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eddleston M (2020) Poisoning by pesticides. Medicine 48(3):214–217

    Google Scholar 

  • Eugine M, Tanyanyiwa V (2016) Prevalence of persistent organic pollutants in Blantyre- Malawi. Am J Environ Prot 4(3):61–66

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Harner T, Wideman JL, Jantunen LMM et al (1999) Residues of organochlorine pesticides in Alabama soils. Environ Pollut 106:323–332

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hauser R, Altshul L, Chen Z et al (2002) Environmental organochlorines and semen quality: results of a pilot study. Environ Health Perspect 110(3):229–233

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins NJ, Bass C, Dixon A et al (2019) The evolutionary origins of pesticide resistance. Biol Rev 94(1):135–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Idrovo AJ, Sanìn LH, Cole D et al (2005) Time to first pregnancy among women working in agricultural production. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 78(6):493–500

    Google Scholar 

  • Islam SM, Rahman MA, Nahar S et al (2019) Acute toxicity of an organophosphate insecticide sumithion to striped catfish Pangasianodonhypophthalmus. Toxicol Rep 6:957–962

    Google Scholar 

  • Jayaraj R, Megha P, Sreedev P (2016) Organochlorine pesticides, their toxic effects on living organisms and their fate in the environment. Interdiscip Toxicol 9(3–4):90–100

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kerle EA, Jenkins JJ, Vogue PA (1994) Understanding pesticide persistence and mobility for groundwater and surface water protection. Oregon State University Extention Service, Oregon

    Google Scholar 

  • Koutros S, Freeman LEB, Berndt SI et al (2010) Pesticide use modifies the association between genetic variants on chromosome 8q24 and prostate cancer. Cancer Res 70(22):9224–9233

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Long Q et al (2015) Upconversion nanoparticle-based fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay for organophosphorus pesticides. Biosens Bioelectron 68(2015):168–174

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mahmood I, Imadi SR, Shazadi K et al (2016) Effects of pesticides on environment. In: Hakeem K, Akhtar M, Abdullah S (eds) Plant, soil and microbes. Springer, Cham, pp 253–269

    Google Scholar 

  • Messaros BM, Rossano MG, Liu G et al (2009) Negative effects of serum p, p′-DDE on sperm parameters and modification by genetic polymorphisms. Environ Res 109(4):457–464

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mineau P, Downes CM, Kirk DA et al (2005) Patterns of bird species abundance in relation to granular insecticide use in the Canadian prairies. Ecosci 12(2):267–278

    Google Scholar 

  • Misha A, Verma S (2016) Acute toxicity bioassay of organophosphorus pesticide, chlorpyrifos on freshwater catfish, Heteropneustesfossilis (Bloch, 1794). Int J Fish Aquac Stu 4(6):388–393

    Google Scholar 

  • Newton I (2013) Organochlorine pesticides and birds. Br Birds 106(4):189–205

    Google Scholar 

  • Olsvik PA, Larsen AK, Berntssen MH et al (2019) Effects of agricultural pesticides in aquafeeds on wild fish feeding on leftover pellets near fish farms. Front Genet 10:794

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Özkara A, Akyıl D, Konuk M (2016) Pesticides, environmental pollution, and health. In: Environmental Health Risk-Hazardous Factors to Living Species. Intech

    Google Scholar 

  • Parrino V, Minutoli R, Paro GL et al (2020) Environmental assessment of the pesticides in Parablennius sanguinolentus along the Western Calabrian coast (Italy). Int J Mar Sci 101297

    Google Scholar 

  • Pick FE, Van Dyk LP, De Beer PR (1984) The effect of simulated rain on deposits of some cotton pesticides. Pestic Sci 15(6):616–623

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Quansah R, Bend JR, Abdul-Rahaman A et al (2016) Associations between pesticide use and respiratory symptoms: a cross-sectional study in Southern Ghana. Environ Res 150:245–254

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ragin C, Davis-Reyes B, Tadesse H et al (2013) Farming, reported pesticide use, and prostate cancer. Am J Mens Health 7(2):102–109

    Google Scholar 

  • Sapbamrer R, Seesen M (2020) A systematic review of association between pesticide exposure and respiratory outcomes among farmers and farmworkers. Mal J Med Health Sci 6(1):312–324

    Google Scholar 

  • Sati VP (2015) Issues and options of food security and poverty: an empirical study of Mizoram, the eastern extension of the Himalaya. J Food Secur 3(4):107–114

    Google Scholar 

  • Sgolastra F, Medrzycki P, Bortolotti L et al (2017) Synergistic mortality between a neonicotinoid insecticide and an ergosterol-biosynthesis-inhibiting fungicide in three bee species. Pest Manag Sci 73(6):1236–1243

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh KP, Mohan D, Sinha S et al (2004) Impact assessment of treated/untreated wastewater toxicants discharged by sewage treatment plants on health, agricultural, and environmental quality in the wastewater disposal area. Chemosphere 55:227–255

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Singh KP, Malik A, Sinha S (2007) Persistent organochlorine pesticide residues in soil and surface water of northern Indo-Gangetic alluvial plains. Environ Monit Assess 125(1–3):147–155

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sprince NL, Lewis MQ, Whitten PS et al (2000) Respiratory symptoms: associations with pesticides, silos, and animal confinement in the Iowa Farm Family Health and Hazard Surveillance Project. Am J Ind Med 38(4):455–462

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Storck V, Karpouzas DG, Martin-Laurent F (2017) Towards a better pesticide policy for the European Union. Sci Total Environ 575:1027–1033

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tinfo NS, Hotchkiss MG, Buckalew AR, Zorrilla et al (2011) Understanding the effects of atrazine on steroidogenesis in rat granulosa and H295R adrenal cortical carcinoma cells. Reprod Toxicol 31:184–193

    Google Scholar 

  • Trueblood AB, Shipp EM (2018) Characteristics of acute occupational pesticide exposures in Texas reported to poison centers, 2000–2015. Arch Environ Occup Health 73(4):228–235

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ãœnlü S, Alpar B (2018) Ecological risk assessment of HCH and DDT residues in a sediment core from the Küçükçekmece Lagoon, Turkey. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 101(3):358–364

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Bruggen AHC, He MM, Shin K et al (2018) Environmental and health effects of the herbicide glyphosate. Sci Total Environ 616:255–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Meij T, Van Strien AJ, Haysom KA et al (2015) Return of the bats? A prototype indicator of trends in European bat populations in underground hibernacula. Mamm Biol 80(3):170–177

    Google Scholar 

  • Vazquez-Duhalt R, Marquez-Rocha F, Ponce E et al (2005) Nonylphenol, an integrated vision of a pollutant. Appl Ecol Environ Res 4(1):1–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Vedham V, Verma M, Mahabir S (2015) Early-life exposures to infectious agents and later cancer development. Cancer Med 4(12):1908–1922

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickramasinghe LP, Harris S, Jones G et al (2003) Bat activity and species richness on organic and conventional farms: impact of agricultural intensification. Appl Ecol 40(6):984–993

    Google Scholar 

  • Willis GH, McDowell LL, Smith S et al (1988) Rainfall amount and intensity effects on carbaryl washoff from cotton plants. Trans ASAE 31(1):86–0090

    Google Scholar 

  • Willis GH, McDowell LL, Smith S et al (1992) Foliar washoff of oil-applied malathion and permethrin as a function of time after application. J Agric Food Chem 40(6):1086–1089

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Xu X, Talbot EO, Ilacqua VA et al (2010) Association of serum concentrations of organochlorine pesticides with breast cancer and prostate cancer in U.S. adults. Environ Health Perspect 118:60–66. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.0900919

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yu X, Yu RQ, Zhang X et al (2019) DDT exposure induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of skin fibroblasts from Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin via mitochondria dysfunction. Aquat Toxicol 213:105229

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang ZY, Yu XY, Wang DL et al (2010) Acute toxicity to zebrafish of two organophosphates and four pyrethroids and their binary mixtures. Pest Manag Sci 66(1):84–89. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.1834

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zierler D (2019) Inventing ecocide: agent Orange, antiwar protest, and environmental destruction in Vietnam (Doctoral dissertation, Temple University Libraries)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biological Engineering Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Beni Mellal, Morocco

    Amina Brhich, Hasna Merzouki, Redouane Chatoui & Mohamed Merzouki

  2. Laboratory of Biotechnology, Protection and Valorization of Plant resources; Phytochemistry and Pharmacology of Medicinal Plants Unit, Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, CNRST Association URAC 35, Cadi Ayyad University, Marrakech, Morocco

    Malika Ait Sidi Brahim

Authors
  1. Amina Brhich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Malika Ait Sidi Brahim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Hasna Merzouki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Redouane Chatoui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mohamed Merzouki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amina Brhich .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Biological Engineering, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Beni Mellal, Morocco

    Hicham Chatoui

  2. Biological Engineering Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Beni Mellal, Morocco

    Mohamed Merzouki

  3. Health and Agro-Industry Engineering Department, E2IM, Private University of Marrakech (UPM), Marrakech, Morocco

    Hanane Moummou

  4. Biological Engineering Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Beni Mellal, Morocco

    Mounir Tilaoui

  5. Health and Agro-Industry Engineering, High School of Engineering and Innovation of Marrakech (E2IM), Private University of Marrakech (UPM), Marrakech, Morocco

    Nabila Saadaoui

  6. Laboratory of Biological Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Beni-Mellal, Morocco

    Amina Brhich

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Brhich, A., Ait Sidi Brahim, M., Merzouki, H., Chatoui, R., Merzouki, M. (2022). Fate and Impact of Pesticides: Environmental and Human Health Issues. In: Chatoui, H., Merzouki, M., Moummou, H., Tilaoui, M., Saadaoui, N., Brhich, A. (eds) Nutrition and Human Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93971-7_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation