Pyrethroid Insecticides
About this eBook
This book reviews the latest developments concerning the analysis, fate, behaviour and toxicity of pyrethroid insecticides. Over the last few decades, pyrethroid insecticides have increasingly replaced organochlorine pesticides due to their relatively lower mammalian toxicity, selective insecticide activity and lower environmental persistence. They represent 25% of global sales of insecticides, and are considered to be “safe” since they are converted to non-toxic metabolites by oxidative metabolism in fish and by hydrolysis in mammals. However, recent studies have demonstrated their environmental ubiquity, their bioaccumulation and their toxicity in various aquatic and terrestrial organisms, and even in humans.
Featuring contributions by leading experts, the book discusses the physico-chemical properties and uses of pyrethroid insecticides; the latest chemical analytical methods; their occurrence in the environment, biota and food; and their isomeric and enantiomeric behaviour. It particularly highlights the toxicological effects and human exposure to pyrethroid insecticides, and also offers insights into the effects of the salmon industry on the marine environment with a case study of sea lice treatment using pyrethroids. This comprehensive book is a valuable source of information for environmental scientists, policymakers and producers interested in issues related to pyrethroid insecticides.
About the author
Dr. Ethel Eljarrat received her PhD in Chemistry at the University of Barcelona, Spain, in 1999, and since 2008 is a Scientific Researcher at the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC, Spain). Her scientific work focuses on the development of analytical methods for the study of fate and transport of persistent organic pollutants and emerging contaminants. Currently, she devotes her attention to the study of the presence and bioavailability, bioaccumulation and biomagnification along the aquatic and terrestrial trophic chains of two groups of pollutants: flame retardants and pyrethroid insecticides. In regard to pyrethroids, her studies on the presence and accumulation of these contaminants in human breast milk samples, in cetaceans and in fish, and in bird eggs, demonstrated that these widely used pesticides are also capable of bioaccumulation. She has published 163 articles in SCI journals, she has edited two books (Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs) and Emerging Organic Contaminants in Sludges. Analysis, fate and treatment with fungi) and 29 book chapters, and she has presented more than 200 contributions at international and national conferences. She has directed 8 doctoral theses and another 3 more in progress.
