Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research

journal homepage: www.sciencedirect.com/locate/ejar

Pesticides pollution: Classifications, human health impact, extraction

and treatment techniques
Mohamed A. Hassaan, Ahmed El Nemr ⇑
National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, NIOF, Egypt

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The word ‘‘pesticides” is a complex word that encompasses all compounds that are applied to destroy or
Received 25 May 2020 regulate pests; this includes insecticides (insects), herbicides (weeds) and fungicides (fungi). One of the
Revised 19 August 2020 primary sponsors of the green revolution was finding ways to improve and use safe pesticides to control
Accepted 20 August 2020
the wide range of herbal and insect pests, which affect negatively the quantity and quality of world food
Available online xxxx
production. This review provides an analysis of pesticides’ definition, classifications, toxicity, factors
affecting toxicity, pesticides in water resources, their environmental fate, impacts on human health
Keywords:
and their methods of detection, disposal and treatment. Moreover, this work gives a brief description
Pesticides
Toxicity
of the extraction methods used for pesticides analysis besides comparing the analytical techniques used
Bioconcentration and biomagnification to measure the very low concentration of pesticides. Finally, this work suggests to find further alternative
Degradation methods to identify the pesticide residues and other highly hazardous pollutants.
Human health effects Ó 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of the National Institute of Oceanography and
Treatment techniques Fisheries. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Contents

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Pesticides classification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Mode of entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Pesticide categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Chemical structure of pesticides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Organophosphate pesticides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Carbamate pesticides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Pyrethroid pesticides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Pesticides in water resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Factors that regulate the pesticides impact on water quality (FAO, 1990) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Fate and effects of pesticides in aquatic ecosystems (FAO, 1990) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Pesticides impact on human health and hazardous levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Pesticides ecological effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Biomagnification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Bioconcentration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Pesticides degradation in water, soil and their metabolism process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Pesticides extraction, detection and treatment methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
Declaration of Competing Interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00

Peer review under responsibility of National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries.

⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (A. El Nemr).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2020.08.007
1687-4285/Ó 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article as: M. A. Hassaan and A. El Nemr, Pesticides pollution: Classifications, human health impact, extraction and treatment techniques,
Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2020.08.007
2 M.A. Hassaan, A. El Nemr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (xxxx) xxx

Introduction and public health effects of pesticides excessive and inappropriate

uses are recognized worldwide. For instance, Appelgren (FAO,
Pesticides are chemicals that are applied to private gardens, 1994; 2013) states for Lithuania that while pesticide contamina-
agricultural land, and other public areas to kill undesirable organ- tion has reduced for some economic reasons, water contamination
isms. Pesticides in water resources adversely affect both the by pesticides is frequently produced by inadequate storing and
ecosystems and humans. Those materials have been thought as supply of agro-chemicals. In the US, the US-EPA’s National Pesti-
probable mutagens as they comprise constituents to trigger devia- cide Analysis discovered 10.4 and 4.2% of both public and rural
tions in DNA. According to the world health organization (WHO), wells, respectively, have noticeable concentrations of one or more
about 1000,000 human being are affected by acute poisoning by pesticides (US-EPA, 1992, 1994).
contact with pesticide. Each year, a death rate between 0.4 and The present work is considered one of the first reviews that may
1.9% is recorded (Eddleston, 2020; Jia et al., 2020; Qiu, Zeng, Qiu, explain briefly all aspects of using pesticides in environments
Yu, & Cai, 2017; Thundiyil, Stober, Besbelli, & Pronczuk, 2008). starting from classification ending by degradation. Moreover, it
Work-related contact with pesticides could be behind 70% of these describes the extraction and detection methods from the oldest
mortalities. Furthermore, constant contact to lower pesticides to the modern techniques, as well as the disposal and treatment
dosages was associated with a group of syndromes in the medium methods, while comparing the advantages and disadvantages of
and long term, involving numerous tumors and nervous system these methods and suggesting the optimized methods for com-
disorders (Bertero et al., 2020; Owens, Feldman, & Kepner, 2010). plete removal of pesticides-containing wastewaters.
The using of agro-chemicals such as fertilizers, timing and acidify-
ing agents, soil conditioners, pesticides, and chemicals used in ani- Pesticides classification
mal husbandry (antibiotics and hormones) is generally a common
international custom (El Nemr & Abd-Allah, 2004; El Nemr, 2005; Pesticide is a general word that describes numerous groups of
El Nemr, Moneer, Khaled, & El-Sikaily, 2013; Salem, Khaled, & El insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, garden chemicals, household
Nemr, 2013; USDA-NASS, 2020). Likewise, WHO planned pesti- disinfectants and rodenticides that are operated to both destroy
cides’ taxonomy depending on their health hazard and their lethal and protect from pests (He, 1994, Eldridge, 2008; El Nemr,
performance in mice or other lab creatures administrated orally or Mohamed, El Sikaily, Khaled, Ragab, 2012; El Nemr, Moneer, El-
dermally and approximating LD50 that creates mortality in 50% of Sikaily, Khaled, 2012; El Nemr, Moneer, Khaled, El-Sikaily, 2012).
the subjected animals (De Plaguicidas, 1998; Garcia, Ascencio, These pesticides vary in their chemical and physical properties
Oyarzun, Hernandez, & Alavarado, 2012; Sjerps, Kooij, van Loon, from one class to another. For that reason, it is praiseworthy to cat-
& Van Wezel, 2019; WHO, 2004). egorize them depending on their properties and study their partic-
Pesticides are used in conjunction with the ‘‘industrial era” that ular groups. A synthetic pesticide is man-made chemicals, and
changed the environment since the 1950s. In areas where monoc- does not exist in nature. They are classified into several groups
ular intensive cultivation takes place, pesticides have been applied based on their use. Currently, there are three widely held method
as a typical pest control technique. Even with the advantages of of pesticides’ classification recommended by Drum (1980). These
chemistry, there are some drawbacks, many of which are so impor- three common approaches of pesticides classes encompass: (i)
tant to the point of disturbing the predator–prey interactions and the chemical structure of the pesticide, (ii) the entry mode, and
damage biodiversity (El Nemr, 2011). Moreover, pesticides can (iii) the action of pesticide and the organisms they kill (Yadav
have noteworthy health concerns. While the use of chemical com- et al., 2015). Chemical pesticides are classified into four types
pounds in agriculture is controlled for a limited number of com- depending onto their sources: carbamate, organophosphate,
pounds, agriculture is one of the few sectors in which chemicals organochlorine, and pyrethroid pesticides. On the other hand,
are purposefully discharged into the environment for the reason there is another class of pesticides named biopesticides, which
that they destroy things (FAO, 1990; Warra & Prasad, 2020). are naturally occurring or naturally derived materials especially
The use of pesticides in agriculture is a subcategory of the lar- from living organisms such as plants, fungi, bacteria, etc. Biopesti-
gest group of manufactured compounds used in the present world. cides are divided into three major groups: biochemical pesticides,
The American Chemical Society list shows that 50,000,000 differ- microbial pesticides, and plant incorporated protectants. The
ent chemical compounds were identified in 2009 with the inclu- methods that pesticides can use to interact with or reach the target
sion of 2,500,000 new chemical compounds annually (CSA, 2009). pest are called modes of entry (Gerolt, 1969). Fig. 1 shows the sub-
Given the environmental load of harmful chemicals that make up classification of insecticides.
both non-farm and farm complexes, it is difficult to distinguish
between the environmental effects and pesticides effects on Mode of entry
human health due to the waste received by large industrial com-
plexes that are discharged intentionally or accidentally in the envi- The routes of exposure involve ingested gastric toxins, contact
ronment. On the other hand, there is significant evidence that exposure, expectorant and evaporators. Animals or plants when
agricultural use of pesticides has a major impact on water quality treated with systemic pesticides, the chemicals move to untreated
and may cause severe environmental concerns (FAO, 1990; Warra parts of the organism. Systemic herbicides travel through plants
& Prasad, 2020). and can reach untreated parts of roots, leaves, or stems. They are
Although the amount of pesticides in practice is quite large effective in killing weeds with an incomplete spray cap. They can
almost 2 million metric tons of active ingredient, it is likely that successfully enter plant parts and travel through the plant’s vascu-
greater use will be associated with a few pesticide products lar system to destroy specific pests.
(Popp, Peto}, & Nagy, 2013). These 2 million tons of pesticides can Some systemic insecticides can also be used in animals to
be divided into 47.5% herbicides, 29.5% insecticides, 17.5% fungi- reduce pests such as lice and fleas e.g. glyphosate and
cides and 5.5% other pesticides (De et al., 2014; El Nemr, Said, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (Fig. 2) (Buchel, 1983). Irregular
Khaled, El Sikaily, Abd-Allah, 2003; El Nemr, El-Sikaily, Khaled, pesticides act on target pests when they reach contact. Physical
Said, Abd-Allah, 2004; Salem, El Sikaily, & El Nemr, 2014). Although pesticides must come into contact with the lesion to be effective.
the practice of pesticides is low to zero in conventional and subsis- The pesticide enters the lesion through the animal’s epidermis
tence farming in Asia and Africa, the environmental, water quality after contact and causes poisoning leading to the death of the

Please cite this article as: M. A. Hassaan and A. El Nemr, Pesticides pollution: Classifications, human health impact, extraction and treatment techniques,
Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2020.08.007
 M.A. Hassaan, A. El Nemr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (xxxx) xxx 3

Fig. 1. Insecticides Classification, (Yadav & Devi, 2017).

Fig. 2. Structure of Glyphosate, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, diquat dibromide, malathion and paraquat pesticides.

target pest. Examples of these pesticides are diquat dibromide and value in soil pest control. On the other hand, repellents do not kill
paraquat (Fig. 2) (Seppo Saari, Anu Näreaho, & Sven Nikander, but are annoying enough to chase away pests from the treated
2019; Yadav & Devi, 2017). The toxins may be transferred from commodities/areas (Yadav & Devi, 2017).
the mouth to the stomach of the insects and then transferred to
the rest of the digestive system, where they are absorbed into Pesticide categories
the body of the insect, which results in killing it. Also, some of
these insecticides may kill the larvae by damaging the larval stom- Pesticides are classified based on the target pest object and
ach, an example of these pesticides is the Malathion (Yadav & Devi, are given special names to reflect their activities. The category
2017). A chimney is a pesticide that may kill target pests by creat- names for these pesticides come from the Latin word cide
ing a harmful steam or gases. These pesticides are in vapor status (means killer), which is used after the name of the target pest.
and are transmitted to the lesions through the respiratory system The pesticide categories based on target pests can be summa-
by breathing, and lead to death by poisoning. It is also of great rized in Table 1.

Please cite this article as: M. A. Hassaan and A. El Nemr, Pesticides pollution: Classifications, human health impact, extraction and treatment techniques,
Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2020.08.007
4 M.A. Hassaan, A. El Nemr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 1
Pesticide name and its type and target pests (Fishel & Ferrell, 2013).

Type of pests Pesticides Example Target pests/Function

Avicides Avitrol (aminopyridine) Kill birds
Acaricides Bifenazate Kill mites that feed on plants and animals
Attractant Pheromones Attracts wide range of pests
Algaecides Copper sulfate Control or kill growth of algae
Bactericides Copper complexes Kill bacteria or acts against bacteria
Biopesticide Bacillus thuringiensis Wide range of organisms
Bait Anticoagulants Wide range of organisms
Desiccants Boric acid Act on plants by drying their tissues
Defoliant Tribufos Removes plant foliage
Fungicides Azoxystrobin, Chlorothalonil Kill fungi (including blights, mildews, molds, and rusts)
Fumigant Aluminum phosphide Wide range of organisms
Herbicides Atrazine, glyphosate, 2,4-D Kill weeds and other plants that grow where they are not wanted
Insecticides Aldicarb, Carbaryl, imidacloprid Kill insects and other arthropods
Insect growth regulator Diflubenzuron Insects
Lampricides Trifluromethyl Target larvae of lampreys which are jawless fish latching on vertebrate fish in rivers
Larvicides Methoprene Inhibits growth of larvae
Molluscicides Metaldehyde Inhibit or kill molluscs i.e. snails usually disturbing growth of plants
Moth balls Dichlorobenzene Stop any damage to cloths by moth larvae or molds
Nematicides Aldicarb, Ethoprop Kill nematodes that act as parasites of plants
Ovicides Benzoxazin Inhibits the growth of eggs of insects and mites
Piscicides Rotenone Act against fishes
Plant growth regulator Gibberellic acid, 2,4-D Regulates plant growth
Predacide Strychnine Mammal predators
Repellents Methiocarb Repel pests by its taste or smell, vertebrates and invertebrates
Rodenticides Warfarin Control mice and other rodents
Silvicides Tebuthiuron Acts against woody vegetation
Termiticides Fipronil Kill termites
Virucides Scytovirin Act against viruses

Chemical structure of pesticides followed by a release into the circulatory system during harsh envi-
ronmental conditions. This can cause delays from the time of first
The most widespread and appropriate method for classifying exposure to the onset of effects. DDT can remain in the human body
insecticides depends on their chemical composition and descrip- for 50 years or more (Mrema et al., 2013).
tion of the active ingredients. It is a type of classification that pro-
vides evidence of efficacy, chemical and physical properties of Organophosphate pesticides
special pesticides. Depending on the chemical composition, pesti- Some esters derived from phosphoric acid are known as
cides are classified into 4 main categories: organiochlorine, organic organophosphate pesticides. These esters form are working in
phosphorous, carbamate, pyrethrin and pyrethroid (Buchel, 1983). humans on the central nervous system by blocking the enzyme
acetylcholine. This enzyme manages the amount and levels of
Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) the neurotransmitter acetyl cholinesterase, which disturbs the
Organochlorines are stable chemicals that are very persistent in nerve impulse by the serene phosphorylation of the OH group in
the environment and have the potential to accumulate in adipose the active site of the enzyme (Fukuto, 1971; Krieger, 2001;
tissue (Waliszewski, Bermúdez, & Infanzón, 2002, Waliszewski, Sogorb & Vilanova, 2002; Vale & Lotti, 2015). Intoxication symp-
Gómez-Arroyo et al., 2003; Waliszewski, Meza, Infanzón, Trujillo, toms are coma, dizziness, nausea, headache, cramps, convulsions,
Morales Guzmán, 2003; Waliszewski et al., 2004; Ragab, El Sikaily, loss of reactions, and even death (El Nemr & El-Sadaawy, 2016;
& El Nemr, 2016). In humans, these compounds or their metabolites El Nemr, El-Said, & Khaled, 2016; Perry, Yamamoto, Ishaaya, &
mostly work at the level of the central nervous system altering enzy- Perry, 2013; Sulbatos, 1994). Fig. 4 shows the chemical structure
matic nerve membranes and electrophysiological properties, which of some pesticides. The definitive treatment for organophosphate
leads to changes in the kinetics of the flow of K+ and Na+ through the poisoning is atropine, which competes with acetylcholine at the
nerve cell membrane (Narahashi, Frey, Ginsburg, & Roy, 1992) and muscarinic receptors. The initial dose for adults is 2 to 5 mg IV
may cause symptoms such as acute poisoning death and or 0.05 mg/kg IV for children until reaching the adult dose. If the
seizures from apnea (Tordoir & van Sittert, 1994). Structurally, patient does not respond to the treatment, the dose is doubled
organochlorines fall into five classes (Blus, 2003): (1) DDT and its every 3 to 5 min until respiratory secretions have cleared and there
analogs including DDT and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene is no bronchoconstriction. In patients with severe poisoning, it may
(DDE); Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane (DDD) (2) hexachlorocy- take hundreds of milligrams of atropine given in bolus or continu-
clohexane (HCH), such as lindane; (3) cyclodienes including aldrin, ous infusion over several days before the patient improves (Robb &
dieldrin, endrin (sometimes referred to as ‘‘drins” in the literature), Baker, 2017).
heptachlor, chlordane, and endosulfan; (4) toxaphene; and (5) mirex
and chlordecone (Fig. 3). The field half-life time of some organochlo- Carbamate pesticides
rines such as DDT, DDE and DDD) is 15 years, while for aldrin and Some organic ester compounds derived from dimethyl
toxaphene is 365 and 9 days respectively (Sparling, 2016). The acute N-methyl carbamic acid are used as herbicides, insecticides,
toxicity of most OCPs generally occurs at concentrations that are nematicides and fungicides, and named as carbamates (Fig. 5). Car-
higher than those considered environmentally realistic so death bamates such as thiobencarb, propoxur, molinate, disulfiram
under natural conditions may be slow and often is seen as a general (Antabuse), pyridostigmine, methiocarb and carbaryl are widely
wasting away or chronic illness. The lipophilic and persistent nature used in both cats and dogs. The carbamate compounds toxicity var-
of most OCPs can lead to long-term storage in adipose tissue, ies according the molecular structure, but in general they have

Please cite this article as: M. A. Hassaan and A. El Nemr, Pesticides pollution: Classifications, human health impact, extraction and treatment techniques,
Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2020.08.007
 M.A. Hassaan, A. El Nemr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (xxxx) xxx 5

Fig. 3. Structure of some organochlorines.

pathetic and motor neurons), motor activity compromised (muscle

twitching, depression of respiratory and circulatory, fasciculation,
cramps, and weakness), sympathetic dysfunction (tachycardia,
hypertension, and pallor), central nervous system effects (restless-
ness, emotional lability, confusion, drowsiness, Cheyne-Stokes res-
piration, slurred speech, tremor, ataxia, generalized weakness,
coma, areflexia, convulsion, and hypothermia) (Garrettson, 1993;
Reigart & Roberts, 2013).
Fig. 4. Chemical structure of some pesticides (a) Carbaryl and (b) Carbofuran.

Pyrethroid pesticides
Pyrethroids are natural insecticides derived from the pyrethrum
shorter duration than that of organophosphates and organochlori- extracts of chrysanthemum flowers known as pyrethrin found in
nes, and the latter inhibits acetyl cholinesterase (Garcia et al., Kenya. It works on the central nervous system, which causes fluc-
2012; Winder, 2004). The treatment of acute carbamate toxicity tuations in the dynamics of sodium cation channels in the mem-
is also similar to that of organophosphates. It should be noted that brane of the nerve cell, which leads to an increase in the time of
the carbamates are short-lived, therefore a higher level of caution opening of the sodium channels. The sodium cation stream
is warranted in atropine administration (Eicher, 2009; Vale & Lotti, extends across the membrane in both vertebrates and insects
2015). The acute poisoning symptoms occurring by organophos- (He, 1994; Kamita, Kang, Hammock, & Inceoglu, 2005; Perry
phate or carbamate insecticides is common and often severe. These et al., 2013). A neuronal hyperexcitation can be a result of these
poisoning symptoms appear in different organs and can be listed as actions (Garcia et al., 2012; He, 1994; Narahashi et al., 1992;
follows: bronchial tree (wheezing, dyspnea, increased secretions, Narahashi, 1996; Perry et al., 2013). Due to the severe need for
muscarinic (parasympathetic), cough, pulmonary edema, cyanosis, large quantities of these pesticides and due to the growing short-
and bronchoconstriction), glandular stimulation (increased age of essential oils necessary for the manufacture of natural
salivation, lacrimation, and sweating), cardiovascular effects organic pyrethrum, scientists have turned to the production of
(bradycardia, and hypotension), eye (miosis, and blurred vision), synthetic pyrethroids. Most pyrethroid insecticides (Fig. 6) share
bladder dysfunction (incontinence, and frequency), Gastrointesti- several characteristics such as low toxicity to birds and mam-
nal manifestations (nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, mals; high toxicity to arthropods since it requires very low doses
and incontinence), Nicotinic receptors stimulation (including sym- to kill insects; highly toxic to fish if applied directly to water; and

Please cite this article as: M. A. Hassaan and A. El Nemr, Pesticides pollution: Classifications, human health impact, extraction and treatment techniques,
Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2020.08.007
6 M.A. Hassaan, A. El Nemr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 5. Chemical structure of some carbamate and thiocarbamates pesticides.

logical cycle. When considering the use of urban water for surface
flow, pesticides in municipal wastewater are appropriate for the
hydrological model (Gago-Ferrero, Gros, Ahrens, & Wiberg, 2017;
Khalid et al., 2020; Kuster, Díaz-Cruz, Rosell, López de Alda, &
Barceló, 2010; Majewski & Capel, 1996; Peña, Delgado-Moreno, &
Rodríguez-Liébana, 2020).

Factors that regulate the pesticides impact on water quality (FAO,

Fig. 6. General structure of pyrethroids pesticides. 1990)

 Contaminants that occur as impurities inside the active

fast-acting especially against chewing insects. Although many ingredient.
pyrethroid insecticides can be absorbed by insect pests when  The active ingredients in the pesticide formulation.
they walk on dry residues, they are not effective in penetrating  Degradable compounds that resulted after or during microbial,
the soil to kill underground pests because they adhere tightly to or chemical and photochemical degradation of the active
soil and organic matter. In addition, they are poorly soluble in components.
water (Gupta & Crissman, 2013; Seppo Saari et al., 2019). There  Additives mixture with active ingredients (preservatives, emul-
are over 1000 different pyrethroids used today, although fewer sifier’s wetting agents, solvents or diluents, adhesives and
than a dozen are available in the United States. Pyrethroids are buffers).
used as active substance in many types of commercial products
such as pet shampoos, human head lice treatments, pet sprays, Besides using of pesticides in agriculture, silviculture similarly
topical mosquito repellents and of course insecticide sprays for exhibits widespread usage of pesticides. For example, in Canada,
businesses, homes, and farms. where 1 in 10 jobs is in the forestry industry, management of forest
pests, especially insects, is considered to be critical. Insecticides are
Pesticides in water resources regularly sprayed by planes over huge areas of forests.

Water is one of the most important natural resources in the Fate and effects of pesticides in aquatic ecosystems (FAO, 1990)
world. Water is essential to all living creatures. Humans use water
for manufacturing, forestry, households and leisure. The condition The application of pesticides may lead to contamination of the
of soil and surface water in many countries is troubling. There have aquatic environment through several ways including: spray drift,
been concerns in many countries around the world over the past runoff, and leaching (Van den Brink, 2013; Wijngaarden, Brock, &
years about contaminants reaching soil and surface waters. It is Van Den Brink, 2005). The transfer of pesticides sourced from agri-
necessary for pesticides users to understand the cycle of pesticide cultural land may be harmful to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems
contamination of ground and surface water. Pesticides users must (Boithias, Sauvage, Srinivasan, Leccia, & Sánchez-Pérez, 2014). Pes-
apply safe practices which reduce the pesticides off-site move- ticides can affect fishes in a direct way (Cochard, Maneepitak, &
ment. Both groundwater and surface water should be secured from Kumar, 2014; Tu, Niu, Liu, & Xu, 2013). Small fishes seem to be
the introduction of pesticides. Groundwater is a more important affected more than larger ones (Capkin, Altinok, & Karahan, 2006;
issue as pesticides cannot be eliminated as in other environments; Kim, Jung, Oh, & Choi, 2008). There are also some indirect toxic
pollutant concentration cannot be reduced as easily. Moreover, effects of pesticides on fishes through decreasing fish’s food
human consumption, irrigation and domestic animals are trouble- sources (algae and plankton), changing food habits and deteriorat-
some sources of contamination to groundwater (Ongley, 1996; ing the quality of aquatic habitat (Cagauan, 1995; Cochard et al.,
Sjerps et al., 2019). Pesticides enter the water by flowing (run- 2014). Some pesticides (e.g. herbicides) may reduce the abundance
down) or filtering (leaching). Both are related to the Earth’s hydro- of primary producers thus ultimately decrease the primary and

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 M.A. Hassaan, A. El Nemr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (xxxx) xxx 7

Table 2 Table 4
The ecological effects of pesticides in the water (FAO, 1990). Extraction method for pesticides.

No. Effect Description Technique Advantages Disadvantages

1 Toxicity  Usually stated as LD50 (‘‘Lethal Dose”: the con- 1 Liquid-liquid Simple and reliable,  Requires large vol-
centration of pesticide that will kill half of the extraction (LLE) adaptable to different ume of hazardous
tested organisms through a definite experiment sample types and solvent
time). The lower the LD50, the greater the toxic- analyzes. Compatible  Time consuming
ity; (values of 0–10 are extremely toxic) (OMAF, with most analytical technique
1991). tools.
 Toxic response: can be either acute (death) or 2 Solid phase Less time-consuming  Requires pre-treat-
chronic (the effect which doesn’t lead to death extraction (SPE) than LLE, and has a ment and needs fur-
over the experiment time but may causes notice- powerful technology to ther toxic organic
able effects in the tested organisms such as purify and pre-focus solvent
tumors and cancers, teratogenic effects, growth 3 Quick, easy, A wide range of analyzes  Low enrichment
inhibition, reproductive failure, etc.). cheap, rugged, (including high polarity, factors
 Food guidelines and drinking water are measured effective and safe acidic and basic
by means of a risk assessment. Generally, (QuEChERS) pesticides), requires low
Risk = Exposure (amount and/or volume of solvents and
duration)  Toxicity. glassware, and simple,
2 Persistence  Determined as half-life (time necessary for the flexible and efficient
concentration to reduce by 50%). Persistence is devices
measured by abiotic and biotic degradation pro- 4 Solid phase  Solvent-free, simple  Difficulty in sample
cesses. Photolysis, hydrolysis and oxidation are micro-extraction and easy to use, fast, carry- over
the non-biological processes, and the biological (SPME) and portable  Quite fragile for fiber,
decomposition and metabolism are the biological and limited lifetime
processes; (Calamaria & Barg, 1993). Current pes- 5 Dispersive  Simplicity, minimal  Low efficiency of
ticides have short half-life times that reveal the liquid–liquid volume of toxic sol- extraction
time over which the pest needs to be regulated. micro-extraction vents, high speed
3 Degradation  Pesticide decomposition may produce degrada- (DLLME) extraction, and
tion products that may have less, equivalent, or inexpensive
greater toxicity than the original pesticide. For 6 Single drop  Quick and cheap,  Less stability of the
example, this occurs in the breakdown of DDT micro-extraction easy to operate, suspending drop,
to pesticides such as DDD and DDE. (SDME) environment and quite long
4 Environmental  The environmental fate or behavior of a pesticide friendly as it requires extraction time
Fate is influenced by the natural affinity of the chem- little organic sol-
ical for 1 of 4 environmental sections (Calamaria vents, and renewa-
& Barg, 1993): biota, liquid (solubility in surface bility of extraction
and soil water), solid state (particulate organic phase
carbon and mineral matter) and gaseous form 7 Hollow fiber- Low cost, significant  Difficulty of full
(volatilization). This behavior is frequently called liquid phase reduction in receiver automation in a
‘‘partitioning” and includes, respectively, the micro-extraction volumes and sample high-throughput
measurement of: solubility; Henry’s Constant (HF-LPME) phases, high fertilization configuration. Con-
(H); the n-octanol/water partition coefficient factors, excellent ability tamination of the
(KOW) and soil sorption coefficient (KOC). These to sample cleanliness, sample solution
factors are well recognized for pesticides and and reproduction especially from con-
are used in the prediction of environmental fate taminated magnetic
of every pesticide. stirrer
8 Continuous Flow Less solvent  Limited volume of
Micro-extraction consumption, use of micro-drop
(CFME) inexpensive tools, and  Difficulty while
secondary consumers (Brock, Lahr, & Van den Brink, 2000; rapid, simple and inserting the drop
Halstead et al., 2014). The primary consumers such as zooplankton efficient pesticide into extraction glass
are severely affected by some organochlorine pesticides extraction in complex chamber
matrices
(Rajendran & Venugopalan, 1988). In addition, other insecticides
may also adversely affect micro-crustaceans (Cochard et al.,
2014; Daam, Crum, Van den Brink, & Nogueira, 2008; Van den
Brink, Hartgers, Gylstra, Bransen, & Brock, 2002). and lead to liver disease. Some ecological effects of pesticides in
The occurrence of interferences in the pesticide formulation the water are listed in (Table 2).
may be an extra hazardous factor, but this is not part of the active
ingredients. For example, in Egypt, TFM (3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitro
Pesticides impact on human health and hazardous levels
phenol), the lamprey pesticide has been applied in the tributaries
of the Great Lakes for several years to regulate the lamprey of
The Aral Sea area is likely a typical example of the impact of
the sea. The TFM environmental fate has been well studied for sev-
pesticide pollution on human health. UNEP (1993) related the
eral years as Munkittrick et al. (1994) and Seppo Saari et al. (2019)
impacts of pesticides to ‘‘the range of oncological (cancer), hemato-
have stated that TFM formulation contains 1 or more extremely
logical morbidity and pulmonary dysfunction, in addition to
potent interferences that influence on the fish hormonal system
immune system deficiencies and inborn deformities”. Farm
employees have exceptional risks linked with skin contact intoxi-
cation and inhalation throughout handling and/or treatment of
Table 3
Human health impacts causes, (FAO, 1990). pesticides to crops (Table 3). The degradation of pesticide runoff
in water has two major impacts on human health (Ferrer and
No. Causes Description
Cabral, 1995; Ferrer, 2003; El Nemr, Mohamed, El Sikaily, Khaled,
1 Ingestion Pesticides up taken as a contaminant in food or water. Ragab, 2012; El Nemr, Moneer, El-Sikaily, Khaled, 2012; El Nemr,
2 Inhalation Dust or spray breathing Moneer, Khaled, El-Sikaily, 2012; Bergmann, 2019). The first is
3 Skin contact Handling of pesticide products
the ingesting of shellfish and fish that are contaminated by

Please cite this article as: M. A. Hassaan and A. El Nemr, Pesticides pollution: Classifications, human health impact, extraction and treatment techniques,
Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2020.08.007
8 M.A. Hassaan, A. El Nemr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 5
Methods of extraction and detection of pesticides in different matrices.

Pesticides Matrix Extraction Detection References

techniques method
1 Multiclass pesticides Well water LLE GC/FID Farajzadeh, Feriduni, & Mogaddam, 2015
2 Multiclass pesticides River water LLE GC/FID Farajzadeh et al., 2015
3 Organophosphorus Sediment LLE GC/MS Hassan, Farahani, Shamsipur, & Damerchili,
Trifluralin 2010
4 Organophosphorus Tap water, River water, Lake water SPE GC/lECD Rashidi Nodeh, Aini, Afzal, & Sanagi, 2017
5 Organochlorines Drinking and environmental water SPE GC-QqQ/MS Liu et al., 2017
6 Carbamates Lake water, River water, Well water SPE UPLC-MS/MS Shi et al., 2014
7 Organophosphorus Tap water SPE HPLC/UV Ravelo-Pérez, Hernández-Borges, & Rodríguez-
Delgado, 2008
8 Organochlorines River water, Surface water, Tap SPME GC/MS Wang, Liu et al., 2016
water
9 Organophosphorus River water, Agricultural waste SPME GC-ICD/MS Saraji, Jafari, & Mossaddegh, 2015
water
10 Organophosphorus Tap water, Rain, water, River water DLLME HPLC Wang, You, Mei, Liu, He, 2016
11 Multiclass pesticides Water, Milk, honey fruit juice SPE and DLLME GC/MS Shamsipur, Yazdanfar, & Ghambarian, 2016
12 Organophosphorus Soil SPE and DLLME GC/MS Ahmadi et al., 2015
13 Fungicides Lake water, River water SDME HPLC Amde, Tan, Liu, & Liu, 2015
14 Chlorothalonil, Kresoxim-methyl Waste-water, treatment plant SDME HPLC Amde et al., 2015
famoxadone
15 Organophosphorus Soil SDME GC/NPD Salemi, Rasoolzadeh, Nejad, & Vosough, 2013
16 Multiclass pesticides Vegetable and fruit SPE GC/MS Sivaperumal, Anand, & Riddhi, 2015
17 Organophosphorus Apple, orange, grape and pineapple SPE GC/NPD Katsumata, Matsumoto, Kaneco, Suzuki, & Ohta,
fruit juices 2008
18 Organochlorines, Triazines Sugarcane juice, Fruit juice QuEChERS GC/ECD Furlani, Marcilio, Leme, & Tfoun, 2011
19 Organophosphorus Vegetables CFME GC/NPD Wu et al., 2016
20 Multiclass pesticides Fruit juice SPME – Pelit et al., 2015
21 Organophosphorus Eggplants QuEChERS LC-MS/MS Sinha, Vasudev, & Rao, 2012
Cabbage
Cauliflower
22 Carbamate Potatoes SPE GC/FID, GC/ Delgado, Barroso, Fernandez-Tostado, & Polo-
NPD Diez, 2001
23 Organochlorines Fish tissue QuEChERS GC/ECD Stremel et al., 2018
24 Organochlorines Fish muscle tissue SPME GC/ECD Fidalgo-Used, Centineo, Blanco-Gonzalez, &
Sanz-Medel, 2003
25 Multiclass pesticides Fruits and vegetables oil d-SPE GC–MS/MS Uclés, Hakme, Ferrer, & Fernández-Alba, 2018
26 Fungicides Vegetables Shaking with GC/NPD, GC/ Khummueng, Trenerry, Rose, & Marriott, 2006
CH2Cl2 lECD

pesticides. This may jeopardize economies depending on the sur- Bonilla, & Neumeister, 2020; NAE–NAS, 1972; Whicher,
vival of fish that live at the bottom of the main agricultural sub- Rosengren, Siddiqi, & Simpsoneditors, 2018).
merged parts. The second is the direct ingesting of water
contaminated with pesticide (Bergmann, 2019; Bhandari, Atreya, Pesticides ecological effects
Scheepers, & Geissen, 2020; Łozowicka et al., 2020; Margni,
Rossier, Crettaz, & Jolliet, 2002; Kamrin, 1997; Leite et al., 2009). Pesticides are involved in a wide range of organic micro pollu-
WHO (1993) has created guidelines for drinking water contam- tants that have negative environmental effects. Several groups of
inated with about 33 pesticides. ‘‘Acceptable Daily Intake” (ADI) pesticides have specific mechanism of contamination of living
standards specify the maximum permissible daily intake through organisms, which is why generalization is difficult. The two main
a person’s entire life without major risks to the individual. The mechanisms are biomagnification and bioconcentration (Tian
Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) represents the maximum concen- et al., 2018; Zhen, Liu, Wang, Zhong, & Tang, 2019).
tration of a pesticide residue (expressed as mg/kg) that the Codex
Alimentarius Commission (CAC) recommends to be legally permit- Biomagnification
ted in food commodities and animal feeds (WHO, 1989). Neither
the MRL nor the ADI is permanently fixed. Both the MRL and ADI The term determines the increasing level of a chemical for food
are determined according to the best judgment of a group of inter- energy that is converted within the food chain. Going up the food
nationally recognized experts based on the data available to them chain, less living organisms are eaten by large organisms, thus the
at the time of the evaluation (WHO, 1989). level of pesticides and other chemicals is gradually amplified in tis-
The Swedish Food Regulation suggested the recommended sues and other organs. A very high level can be observed in higher
levels of some pesticides to be 5000, 2000 and 200 ng/g for DDTs, predators, including humans (Guan, Liu, Luo, Zeng, & Mai, 2020;
PCBs and HCB, respectively (SFR, 1983). The US Food and Drug Liu et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2019; Zhou et al., 2018).
Administration (FDA) tolerance limit is 2000 ng/g wet weight for
total PCBs in fish and shellfish (Henry et al., 1998; Kannan, Bioconcentration
Tanabe, Giesy, & Tatsukawa, 1997; Khaled, El Nemr, Said, El-
Sikaily, & Abd-Alla, 2004; Sabarwal, Kumar, & Singh, 2018). The The term defines the transmission of a chemical into an organ-
National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of ism from the surrounding medium. It is known that the main
Sciences proposed the maximum permissible levels of organochlo- receptor for many insecticides is fat tissue (‘‘lipids”) so that these
rine pesticides, cyclodienes, and PCBs to be 1000, 500, and 100 ng/ pesticides accumulate in fats and an example of these pesticides
g, respectively (El Nemr & Abd-Alla, 2004; Jepson, Murray, Bach, is DDT. DDT is ‘‘lipophilic” as a result of being fat-soluble in human

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 M.A. Hassaan, A. El Nemr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (xxxx) xxx 9

Table 6 adipose tissues when consuming edible fish and edible fish tissue
Detection methods for pesticides. contaminated by DDT (Jia et al., 2020; Qiu et al., 2017).
Detection Advantages and disadvantages The ecological impacts of pesticides are different and are fre-
methods quently inter-related. Several pesticides have noticeably diverse
GC/ECD Advantages impacts on aquatic ecosystems, this is why it is very hard to create
 High sensitivity and good selectivity with element- a broad view about this problem. Many of these effects are chronic
selective detectors
 High resolving power and ability to resolve individual
and often not observed by regular observers but they have many
analytes concerns about the entire food chain. Examples for some physio-
Disadvantages logical effects can be summarized as the following: 1. Reproductive
 High consumption of expensive solvents
failure or inhibition, 2. Disturbance of endocrine (hormonal) sys-
 Inadequate for polar, thermo-labile and low volatility
compounds tem, 3. Death, 4. Immune system suppression, 5. Tumors, cancers
 high-purity gases and lesions on animals and fishes, 6. Teratogenic effects, 7. Inter-
GC/MS and GC/ Advantages generational effects, 8. DNA, cellular damage, poor fish health is
MS/MS  High sensitivity and selectivity
observed through a low red-to-white blood cell ratio, severe mud
 High resolving power and ability to resolve individual
analytes on fish gills and crusts, etc., 9. Other physiological effects such as
 Existence of mass spectrum libraries for screening eggshell weakness. These effects may not be produced mainly only
unknown samples by contact with pesticides or other organic pollutants, but they
Disadvantages
 High consumption of expensive may be associated with a mixture of environmental pressures such
 Inadequate for polar, thermo-labileand low volatility as pathogens and nutrients. These associated pressures should not
compounds be significant if they have a synergistic effect with micro-organic
 high-purity gases pollutants (Hwang, Zimmerman, & Kim, 2018; Yuan et al., 2016).
LC/UV Advantages
 Compositions of both mobile and stationary phase are
variable
 Application to virtually any organic solute, regardless Pesticides degradation in water, soil and their metabolism
of its volatility or thermal stability
 Low price, simplicity, robustness and large linear
process
range
 Can be automated and miniaturized (microchip tech- Besides photochemical and chemical processes, there are 2
nology) major biological mechanisms that lead to pesticides degradation.
Disadvantages
 Large amounts of expensive, toxic, organic solvent The first is microbiological reactions in water and soil and the sec-
used as mobile phase ond is the pesticide metabolism that organisms consume as part of
 Insufficient separation efficiency and selectivity their absorption of food. Although both mechanisms are beneficial
LC/Fluorescence Advantage in the sense that the toxicity of pesticides changes, metabolic pro-
 High separation efficiency
Disadvantage cesses lead to undesirable effects. The energy consumed in the
 Few compounds are fluorescent metabolism of pesticides and other foreign organisms is not pro-
LC/MS Advantage
 Compositions of both mobile and stationary phase are vided for other basic body functions and can severely disrupt the
LC/MS/MS
variable reproduction and growth of the organism (e.g. fish) (Khan &
 Application to virtually any organic solute, regardless Pathak, 2020; Ouyang et al., 2020; Yang & Zhang, 2019).
of its volatility or thermal stability Various pesticides rapidly degrade in the soil in a process called
 Can be automated and miniaturized (microchip tech-
mineralization that turns pesticides into smaller compounds such
nology)
Disadvantage as NH3, H2O, and CO2. Chemical reactions such as photolysis and
 High consumption of expensive solvents hydrolysis lead to this degradation process. The main pathway
 Strongly affected by matrix interferences (ion
for mineralization is usually the microbial metabolism and
enhancement and, most often, ion suppression can
be expected). demolition. Soil microorganisms consume pesticides as a source
 Lack of spectral libraries of carbon or other nutrients. Some chemicals, for example
 Identification difficult using interfaces that provides [2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid], degrade fairly quickly in the soil,
soft ionization while others are degrade less easily [2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic
AMS Advantage
 The analysis of compounds directly from their native acid]. Other chemical compounds are very persistent and do not
(PSI/MS-
DESI- DART) environment degrade gradually like atrazine (Stephenson & Solomon, 1993;
 Minimal or no sample preparation Liu, Lonappan, Brar, & Yang, 2018; Chen, Zhou, Liu, Peng, & Teng,
 Easy-to-use features
2019).
Disadvantage
 Most technologies still need to take the sample back The pesticides in water degrade through UV photolysis, micro-
to the laboratory for analysis, this is attributed to bial degradation, hydrolysis or chemical oxidation. Activated car-
the limitations of the technology itself and mass bon absorption techniques, chlorine, UV photolysis and ozone
spectrometer.
treatment can be used in wastewater and drinking water treat-
Other  GC/FID- GC/ECD- GC/FPD- GC/NPD- GC-lECD
Techniques  Optical biosensors ment facilities to actively reduce pesticide concentrations before
 Capillary electrophoresis (CE) human consumption or being discharged into the environment
 Piezoelectric biosensor (De Santis, Klinkhamer, & Price, 2012; Fu et al., 2020).
 Micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography
Pesticide metabolism in animals is an important process in
(MEKC)
 HPLC/MS- HPLC/MS/MS – HPLC/DAD – HPLC/UV
which living organisms defend themselves from the toxic effects
 Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of foreign chemicals on their food resources. Within the organism,
 Electrochemical biosensors the chemical is converted to a less toxic form and excreted or
 Molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) biosensor retained in the organism. Many organs can be affected in the
 UHPLC/ MS- UHPLC/TOF/MS- LC-MS/MS
organism, especially the liver, depending on the chemical. Enzymes

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10 M.A. Hassaan, A. El Nemr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (xxxx) xxx

Table 7 Pesticides extraction, detection and treatment methods

The methods for the disposal of low level pesticides-containing wastewater (Al
Hattab & Ghaly, 2012).
The methods of extraction, detection, disposal and treatment of
Disposal methods Advantages and disadvantages pesticides are summarized in Tables 4–8. Table 4 reports the eight
Land Cultivation Advantages famous extraction methods used for pesticides analysis together
 Simple technology
with their advantages and disadvantages. These methods or tech-
 On-site use
Disadvantages niques are liquid–liquid extraction (LLE), solid phase extraction
 Possible runoff and leaching (SPE), solid phase micro-extraction (SPME), dispersive liquid–liq-
 Land requirements uid micro-extraction (DLLME), single drop micro-extraction
 Restricted vegetation
(SDME), hollow fiber-liquid phase micro-extraction (HF-LPME),
 Slow and variable decomposition
Disposal Pits(Soil, plastic and Advantages continuous flow micro-extraction (CFME) and the Quick, Easy,
concrete pit)  Simple technology Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) method which is a
 On-site use
simple and straightforward extraction technique involving an ini-
 Secure containment
Disadvantages
tial partitioning followed by an extract clean-up using dispersive
 Limited lifetime of pit solid-phase extraction (d-SPE). Originally, the QuEChERS approach
 Slow decomposition was developed for recovering pesticide residues from fruits and
 Effectiveness varies with climate
vegetables, but rapidly gained popularity in the comprehensive
Evaporation Ponds Advantages
 On-site use isolation of analytes from different matrices, (Alsharif, Tan, Choo,
 Secure containment & Lawal, 2017; Farajzadeh, Safi, & Yadeghari, 2019; Mohebbi,
 Simple technology
Farajzadeh, Mahmoudzadeh, & Etemady, 2020; Perestrelo et al.,
-Disadvantages
 Limited lifetime of pond 2019; Samsidar, Siddiquee, & Shaarani, 2018). Table 5 reports the
effectiveness famous methods of extraction and detection of pesticides used in
 Slow decomposition different contaminated matrices such as sediment, fish tissue, soil,
 Varies with climate
plant, vegetables, different fruits, and different water types. Table 6
Landfills Advantage
 Complete removal reports the known detection methods and the types of detector
 Generally available used for pesticides analysis in different contaminated materials
Disadvantage together with the advantages and disadvantages of these tech-
 High transportation costs
 Land requirements niques from the oldest to the most modern techniques such as
 Possible runoff and leaching the Ambient Mass Spectrometry (AMS) for example: Desorption
Electrospray Ionization (DESI), Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART)
and Paper Spray Ionization (PSI) (Andreu & Picó, 2004; Asiri et al.,
Table 8 2020; Moura et al., 2020). AMS allows direct molecular character-
Treatment methods for the pesticides wastewater (Al Hattab & Ghaly, 2012). ization of various raw food samples with minimal or no sample
pretreatment. Because of the excellent sensitivity and specificity
Treatment Method Advantages and disadvantages
of this analysis, AMS has been increasingly applied in food science
Thermal Advantages
 Incineration  Destructive and industry (Lu et al., 2018).
 No by-products Table 7 reports the famous methods used for the disposal of low
 Rapid level pesticides wastewater together with their advantages and
Disadvantages disadvantages (Al Hattab & Ghaly, 2012). Table 8 reports the
 Complex
 High costs famous treatment methods for the pesticides in wastewater such
 Not useful for some chemical as thermal, physical, chemical and biological methods together
Physical Advantages with the advantages and disadvantages of these techniques (Al
 Adsorption using activated carbon  Possible on-site use
 Inorganic and organic materials  Rapid Hattab & Ghaly, 2012).
Disadvantages
 By-products for disposal
 No destruction involved
Conclusions
Chemical Advantages
 Ozonation/UV  Destructive
 Hydrolysis  Rapid There are various classes of pesticides that have been catego-
 Fenton oxidation Disadvantages rized depending on several standards. The most common criteria
 KPEG  High costs
 Variable effectiveness of pesticides classifications are: mode of action and/or mode of
 Complex entry or the approach by which a pesticide controls or kills the tar-
Biological Advantage get pest, chemical structure, the features of pesticides, and the
 Phytoremediation  Destructive
 Composting Disadvantage character of the target pests. Pesticides with similar formulations
 Bioaugmentation.  High costs have similar properties and usually have a similar working pattern.
 Relatively slow In general, the active ingredients of pesticides are either organic or
 Susceptible to shock
inorganic insecticides. The human health impacts of pesticides can
 Variable effectiveness
happen through one of three routes: ingestion, inhalation and skin
contact that occur through the handling of pesticide products. It is
worth noting that pesticides enter the water by runoff or by leach-
ing. There are two major biological mechanisms that lead to pesti-
play an important role in metabolism and the presence of some cides degradation. The first is microbiological interactions in water
enzymes, especially ‘‘mixed” oxygen in the liver, is currently used and soils, while the second is the pesticide’s metabolism when liv-
as an indication of the organism’s contact with some foreign chem- ing organisms consume it as part of their food uptake. Modern ana-
ical compounds (Stephenson & Solomon, 1993; Perez de lytical techniques for pesticides are capillary electrophoresis,
Albuquerque, Carrao, Habenschus, & Moraes de Oliveira, 2018; immunoassay, GC and LC connected to selective detector such as
Aloizou et al., 2020). MS/MS and fluorescence that have high sensitivity to measure very

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Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2020.08.007
 M.A. Hassaan, A. El Nemr / Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research xxx (xxxx) xxx 11

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Please cite this article as: M. A. Hassaan and A. El Nemr, Pesticides pollution: Classifications, human health impact, extraction and treatment techniques,
Egyptian Journal of Aquatic Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejar.2020.08.007