Abstract

Pyriproxyfen (PYR), an insecticide with high insect pest specificity and low mammalian toxicity. The environment may be exposed to the creation of roughly 10 metabolites as a result of its breakdown. According to reports, some of the metabolites have particularly poisonous and movable properties. Serious worry may be raised by their ability to contaminate the environment and cause poisoning. The information on how various metabolites are formed in soil, their ultimate fate, and their toxicological repercussions is scarce in the literature that is currently available. By studying the dissipation behaviour of various metabolites in soil under sub-tropical agro-climatic conditions in north India, we were able to study the metabolic pathway of PYR. PYR was applied to the soil in field settings at (T1) 100 and (T2) 200 g a.i. /ha. Periodically, samples were taken, prepared, and examined using GC-MS tandem mass spectrometry. Six metabolites were created during the decomposition process: 4-OH-PYR, POP, POPA, 4-OH-POPA, PYPA, and PYPAC. On the first day of PYR application, the majority of metabolites manifested fairly early and reached their peak concentration. However, despite having varying half-lives that ranged from 2.6 to 30 days, their leftovers lingered for more than 30 days. The results of the toxicological analysis showed that the soil enzymes sucrose, catalase, urease, and dehydrogenase were extremely sensitive to the metabolites C, E, and F. Adult honeybees are not adversely affected by PYR. Additional research is required to stop metabolites' adverse effects on unintended organisms and the environment because of their persistent behaviour and toxicological effects.