Tag: zoology

Malathion is an organophosphate insecticide that has been widely utilized in public health programs, including antimalarial efforts, to control mosquito populations.

Aldrin is a pesticide used to control soil insects such as termites, corn rootworm, wireworms, rice water weevil and grasshoppers. It has been widely used to protect crops such as corn and potatoe and has been effective to protect wooden structures from termites.

2,4-D (2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) is a systemic herbicide that affects the specifically acts on the dicot weeds. It is used in the crop field of cereals to wipe out the weeds without affecting the monocot cereals. 

Allethrin is a synthetic pyrenoid used as an insecticide. These were made in 1949 and their chemical structure bears similarity to the natural pyrenoids obtained from the chrysanthemum plants. These are used to kill the flying and crawling insects in homes and workplaces.

Most synthetic insecticides, such as organophosphates and carbamates, function by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase, which disrupts the normal transmission of nerve impulses in the target pest's nervous system.

Agricultural and horticultural lands are primary sources of pesticide runoff and leachate, which can contaminate groundwater and nearby water bodies.

Lakes downwind from industrial centers are susceptible to acid deposition because industrial emissions (like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides) react with atmospheric moisture to form acids, which then fall as rain or dry deposition.

Auxins are toxic to plants in large concentrations; they are most toxic to dicots and less so to monocots. Because of this property, synthetic auxin herbicides, including 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, have been developed and used for weed control. Dioxins are environmental pollutants. They belong to the so-called dirty dozen - a group of dangerous chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Dioxins are of concern because of their highly toxic potential. Experiments have shown they affect a number of organs and systems.
Once dioxins enter the body, they last a long time because of their chemical stability and their ability to be absorbed by fat tissue, where they are then stored in the body. Their half-life in the body is estimated to be 7 to 11 years. In the environment, dioxins tend to accumulate in the food chain. The higher an animal is in the food chain, the higher the concentration of dioxins.
The chemical name for dioxin is: 2, 3, 7, 8 - tetrachlorodibenzo para dioxin (TCDD). The name "dioxins" is often used for the family of structurally and chemically related polychlorinated dibenzo para dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs). Dioxins are mainly by-products of industrial processes but can also result from natural processes, such as volcanic eruptions and forest fires. Dioxins are unwanted by products of a wide range of manufacturing processes including smelting, chlorine bleaching of paper pulp and the manufacturing of some herbicides and pesticides.

Pesticides are applied to the soil to manage the weeds. The length of the time that the pesticide remains active in soil is referred to as "soil persistence". Though desirable in the season of application, its persistence in the soils may affect the crop growth and yield. Benzene Hexachloride(BHC) is a chemical compound with several stereoisomers of which one is an insecticide called Lindane and the by-product is β-hexachlorocyclohexane- the pesticide. This pesticide which was used widely to protect cotton plants during 1960 and 1970's is banned as it has high levels of soil persistence and is neurotoxic for the animals.