Toxicity, degradation and analysis of the herbicide atrazine

• Published in: Environmental chemistry letters Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 211 - 237
• Main Authors: Singh, Simranjeet, Kumar, Vijay, Chauhan, Arun, Datta, Shivika, Wani, Abdul Basit, Singh, Nasib, Singh, Joginder
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.03.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Analytical Chemistry; Analytical methods; Aquatic animals; Aquatic fauna; Atrazine; Biodegradation; Bioremediation; Cell division; Detection; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecosystems; Ecotoxicology; ELISA; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Fauna; Feasibility studies; Genotoxicity; Geochemistry; Guanylate cyclase; Herbicides; High-performance liquid chromatography; HPLC; Infrared spectroscopy; Lipids; Metabolism; Microorganisms; Mutagenicity; Pesticides; Photosynthesis; Pollution; Review; Soil; Soil pollution; Soil water; Soils; Sustainability; Threatened species; Toxicity; Triazine; Toxicity; Herbicide; Monitoring; Microbial degradation; Atrazine
• ISSN: 1610-3653; 1610-3661
• DOI: 10.1007/s10311-017-0665-8

Excessive use of pesticides and herbicides is a major environmental and health concern worldwide. Atrazine, a synthetic triazine herbicide commonly used to control grassy and broadleaf weeds in crops, is a major pollutant of soil and water ecosystems. Atrazine modifies the growth, enzymatic processes and photosynthesis in plants. Atrazine exerts mutagenicity, genotoxicity, defective cell division, erroneous lipid synthesis and hormonal imbalance in aquatic fauna and nontarget animals. It has threatened the sustainability of agricultural soils due to detrimental effects on resident soil microbial communities. The detection of atrazine in soil and reservoir sites is usually made by IR spectroscopy, ELISA, HPLC, UPLC, LC–MS and GC–MS techniques. HPLC/LC–MS and GC–MS techniques are considered the most effective tools, having detection limits up to ppb levels in different matrices. Biodegradation of atrazine by microbial species is increasingly being recognized as an eco-friendly, economically feasible and sustainable bioremediation strategy. This review presents the toxicity, analytical techniques, abiotic degradation and microbial metabolism of atrazine.