Ultimate fate, transformation, and toxicological consequences of herbicide pretilachlor to biotic components and associated environment: An overview

• Published in: Journal of applied toxicology 2024-01, Vol.44 (1), p.41-65
• Main Authors: Dhanda, Vidhi, Kumar, Ravi, Yadav, Neelam, Sangwan, Sarita, Duhan, Anil
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetanilides - chemistry; Biodegradation; Biotransformation; Controlled release; Crop yield; Degradation; Ecological effects; Ecotoxicology; Environmental degradation; herbicide; Herbicide residues; Herbicides; Herbicides - toxicity; Metabolites; Microorganisms; nanoformulations; pretilachlor; Soil - chemistry; Soil contamination; Sustained release; toxicity; Weed control
• ISSN: 0260-437X; 1099-1263
• DOI: 10.1002/jat.4507

Herbicides are applied for effective weed management in order to increase the crop yield. In recent decades, the overuse of these chemicals has posed adverse effects on different biotic components of the environment. Pretilachlor has been widely used during last few decades for weed management in paddy crop. Its excessive use may prove fatal for environment, various organisms, and nontarget plants. Thus, it is pertinent to know the extent to which herbicide residues remain in environment. The potential mobility and the release rate of herbicide in the soil are important factors governing ecotoxicological impact and degradation rate. Therefore, several techniques are being investigated for its effective removal from the contaminated sites. Furthermore, efforts have also been made to study the degradation of pretilachlor by various physicochemical processes, resulting into the formation of different types of metabolites. This review summarizes the available information on environmental fate, various degradation processes, microbial biotransformation, metabolites formed, ecotoxicological effects, techniques for detection in environmental samples, effect of safener, and various control release formulations for sustained release of pretilachlor in applied fields. The information so obtained will be very advantageous in deciding the future policies for safe and judicious use of the herbicide by maintaining health and environmental sustainability. Herbicidal toxicity is a matter of great concern nowadays. In this review, the effect of pretilachlor on environment is discussed. Various metabolites formed due to degradation are also outlined. Further, the adverse effect of pretilachlor on various organisms and nontarget plants is illustrated. Various methods to detect the accumulated residues and remediation techniques to minimize toxicity are also summarized.