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Submitted by
AMIT KANKARWAL (2010CE10327) GAURAV KUMAR MEENA (2010CE10346)
Introduction
General features Monocrotophos is a systemic insecticide belonging to the vinyl phosphate group. Monocrotophos is an Organophosphorus compound. It is highly toxic by all routes of exposure. Monocrotophos can be absorbed following ingestion, inhalation and skin contact.
Introduction
Physical Properties
Reddish-brown mixture of solid and liquid (at 25-30C) Soluble in water, acetone and alcohol; very slightly soluble in mineral oils. Stable when stored in glass and polyethylene containers. Technical grade has a half-life of 2500 days at 38C.
Introduction
Chemical Identity IUPAC: Dimethyl (E)-1-methyl-2-(methyl-carbamoyl) vinyl phosphate
Introduction
Toxicity Potential Monocrotophos is classified in the WHO Class Ib. i.e. as a highly hazardous pesticide. Monocrotophos is very commonly used in India (mainly for cotton crops) as it is cheap and versatile towards various pests. Monocrotophos production in India The total reported national production of Monocrotophos in India ranged between 8121 metric tonnes in 2003-04 to 5118 metric tonnes in 2007-08.
Introduction
Use of Monocrotophos in India Mainly it is used for agricultural purposes for pest management. The major crops on which it is applied are cotton, rice, pulses, groundnuts, vegetables and fruits. Amongst vegetables, brinjal and tomato receive the highest number of applications. Amongst fruit crops, mango and grapes have the highest share of this insecticide. Among spices, chillies and tea receive a higher number of applications with Monocrotophos
From the above two tables it can be easily inferred that the consumption of Monocrotophos is reducing. Fall in consumption is mainly due to some awareness of its high toxicity, increased pressure from WHOs and FAOs Ban followed by ban on its use for vegetables by GOI. Despite a continuous relative fall in terms of total quantities used, Monocrotophos is still one of the most popular pesticides in the country, mainly because of its low price (currently 210-250 per litre)
Procedure for checking the suitability of a Pesticide. The residue levels (MRLs) are set by supervised field trials for various crops for which a pesticide has been registered for. (by CIBRC) TMDI is calculated by estimating the total intake of pesticide from all possible sources taking into account the MRLs that have been set. ADI is determined from the available toxicological data and usually involves finding the maximum dose that would produce no adverse effects in a lifetime. If the TMDI is less than ADI, then the pesticide is declared suitable for the agricultural use. If the TMDI exceeds the ADI, the pesticide is declared unsuitable.
Pesticide use in India is regulated by the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee (CIBRC) and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The CIBRC registers pesticides for crops while the FSSAI sets the maximum residue limits (MRLs) of pesticides for the crops it has been registered for. The MRLs for all registered pesticides should be set for all the crops they have been registered for. So the co-functioning of both FSSAI and CIBRC is very much needed. A total of 243 pesticides have been registered by CIBRC. The MRLs of 59 pesticides have not been fixed by FSSAI and this creates problem for committees (eg. JPC) and other organisations for judging the harmfulness of the pesticides (as TMDI calculation depends on MRLs)
For checking the suitability of Monocrotophos usage, calculation of TMDI is considered: The TMDI was calculated by the standard formula used in the 1997 WHO recommendations for predicting the dietary intake of pesticides residues. TMDI = MRL x F MRL= Maximum Residue Limit for a given food commodity (mg/Kg) F = daily intake of that commodity (Kg/day) So we will get TMDI in mg/day.
TMDI calculation for Monocrotophos for food commodities as mentioned in NIN (National Institute of Nutrition)
From the table we can see that TMDI = 0.169 mg/day which very high as compared to ADI (for adult) = 0.00774 mg/day (Source - Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR)) In the case of Monocrotophos TMDI is about 22 times more than the required ADI limit which is not acceptable in any case, thus this calculation suggest that government of India should ban this pesticide Calculations of TMDI for many other pesticides just like Monocrotophos does not comply with their ADIs. And are still being used in our country. FSSAI is formed in 2006 even after 7 years of its functioning MRLs for all pesticides have not been set and moreover there is no review over existing MRLs which is strictly against the JPC recommendations. Due to the carelessness of officials and their corrupt nexus with industrialists, suffering of farmers is increasing.
Continued..
Chronic toxicity:
Neurotoxicity: like most organophosphates, it can cause neuro-behavioural problems . Cancer: although not classified as a carcinogen, there is evidence it is mutagenic, has caused DNA damage,and the growth of human breast cancer cells. Endocrine disruption: evidence of endocrine disruption in mice and fish, including oestrogenicity. Reproductive and developmental toxicity: decreased fertility, depressed lactation; evidence of disruption of reproductive endocrine control in fish. Immunotoxicity: immunotoxic in birds and rats; also toxic to human lymphocytes. Metabolic effects: repeated exposure may induce type II diabetes.
continued
Soil organisms: moderately toxic to earthworms. Resistance: at least 21 pests have developed resistance to Monocrotophos, including cotton bollworm, diamondback moth, whitefly, brown plant hopper on rice, and house mosquito. Ground Water Contamination: Monocrotophos is mobile in the soil and thus in the leaching action it contaminates ground water. Bio-accumulation: It is not bio-accumulative.
N-desmethyl monocrotophos
N-methyl acetoacetamide
LD50 = 14 mg/kg
Here LD stands for "Lethal Dose". LD50 is the amount of a material, given all at once, which causes the death of 50% (one half) of a group of test animals. The LD50 is one way to measure the short-term poisoning potential (acute toxicity) of a material. Toxicologists can use many kinds of animals but most often testing is done with rats and mice. It is usually expressed as the amount of chemical administered (e.g., milligrams) per 100 grams (for smaller animals) or per kilogram (for bigger test subjects) of the body weight of the test animal. From the table it is evident that N-methyl Acetoacetamide a metabolite of Monocrotophos is around 150 times more toxic than the parent pesticide.
Chlorpyrifos, Carbosulfan Deltamethrin, Etophenprox fenitrothion, chlorpyrifos carbamates, BT, alphamethrin methomyl and alpha-fenvalerate (Budworm), no alternative for green vegetable bug, none for Budworm or green vegetable bug, it is reputedly the most effective of the remaining registered chemicals which provide adequate control of sucking insects on tobacco. carbamates, dimethoate, methidathion dimethoate, endosulfan and omethoate (both for rotation), pyrethroids, chlorpyrifos, methomyl
Tobacco Tomatoes
Bioremediation
There are some non-harmful and non-toxic ways for reducing the concentration of Monocrotophos. One such way is bioremediation. Bioremediation is a waste management technique that involves the use of organisms to remove, degrade, detoxify, transform, immobilize or stabilize toxic environment contaminants. Use of Bacteria - Arthrobacter atrocyaneus, Bacillus megaterium, and Pseudomonas mendocina. Fungi are also used.
Bioremediation strategies:
Addition of genetically modified organism Use of indigenous microorganism Biostimulation Bioaugmentation Phytoremediation
Bioaugmentation is the practice of adding actively growing, specialized microbial strains into a microbial community in an effort to enhance the ability of the microbial community to respond to process fluctuations or to degrade certain compounds, resulting in improved treatment Biostimulation involves the modification of the environment to stimulate existing bacteria capable of bioremediation. This can be done by addition of various forms of rate limiting nutrients and electron acceptors, such as phosphorus, nitrogen, oxygen, or carbon Phytoremediation describes the treatment of environmenatal problems through the use of plants that mitigate the environmental problem without the need to excavate the contaminant material and dispose of it elsewhere. Some of its advantages are: the cost of the phytoremediation is lower than that of traditional processes the plants can be easily monitored the possibility of the recovery and re-use of valuable metal
In the case of Monocrotophos TMDI is about 22 times more than the required ADI limit which is not acceptable in any case thus for this calculation suggest that government of India should ban this pesticide in every domain of agriculture. Calculations of TMDI for many other pesticides just like Monocrotophos does not comply with their ADIs as suggested by CSE India
Monocrotophos is a highly toxic pesticide. Metabolites generally formed from it are more toxic than the parent pesticide. Remedies like substitution by other less hazardous pesticide can be adopted as a short term solution. But for long term solution Biopesticides (eg. Neem) and other non-harmful pesticides should be researched so that there is no agro-ecological imbalance.
References
Websites :http://cibrc.nic.in/ http://www.fao.org/ http://www.inchem.org/documents/jmpr/jmpmono/v072pr22.htm http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Actives/monocrot.htm reports http://www.searo.who.int/entity/occupational_health/health_implications_from _monocrotophos.pdf Pesticide use and application: An Indian scenario P.C. Abhilash, Nandita Singh http://www.groundwork.org.za/Resources/FactSheets/PAN%20AP/pesticidesfactsheet-hhps-monocrotophos.pdf