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Updated: May 29, 2026

Topical Application Bioassay to Quantify Insecticide Toxicity for Mosquitoes and Fruit Flies
Published on: January 19, 2022
Photoinduced oxidation of the insecticide phenothrin on soil surfaces
Yusuke Suzuki1, Andrea Lopez, Marian Ponte
1Environmental Health Science Laboratory, Sumitomo Chemical Company, Ltd., 4-2-1 Takatsukasa, Takarazuka, Hyogo 665-8555, Japan.
Abstract:
Photodegradation profiles of the pyrethroid insecticide phenothrin on a moistened U.S. soil thin layer was investigated by using its predominant component, the 1R-trans-isomer (I), under continuous exposure to light at >290 nm from a xenon arc lamp. Its degradation was moderately accelerated by irradiation with half-lives of 5.7-5.9 days (dark control 21-24 days), mainly via successive oxidation of the 2-methylprop-1-enyl group and ester cleavage followed by mineralization to carbon dioxide. Spectroscopic and cochromatographic analyses showed that the major degradates were the alcohol and ketone derivatives of I formed via photoinduced oxidation of the 2-methylprop-1-enyl group by singlet oxygen. The photoinduced generation of singlet oxygen in/on the soil surface was confirmed by using chemical trapping reactions together with ESR spectroscopy.
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