Pesticides, Environmental Contamination, and Public Health: A One Health Perspective

Pesticides are chemicals used in the agricultural, industrial, and public health sectors to increase crop productivity, prevent plant diseases, and reduce pest-related hazards. They can be classified as herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and rodenticides based on the pests they target. Their active ingredients include organochlorines, organophosphorus compounds, carbamates, pyrethrins, and pyrethroids. Although the use of pesticides has provided significant benefits to humans, their widespread application has also led to the contamination of air, soil, water, and food systems. After application and distribution among air, water, soil, and biota, several processes control the fate and transport of pesticides in the environment, as well as their transformation through biological, chemical, and physical reactions. Humans and animals are exposed to pesticides through various pathways, including drinking contaminated water, consuming pesticide-contaminated food, and living in areas treated with pesticides. Both acute and chronic exposure to pesticides can cause several adverse health effects on the neurological, endocrine, and reproductive systems and may pose carcinogenic risks. This study provides a comprehensive review of research on the occurrence and fate of pesticides in the environment. It also presents the risks to human health associated with occupational and environmental exposure to pesticides. Available techniques for reducing pesticide-related risks are also discussed. This review showed that human, animal, and ecological health are interconnected and that, therefore, an integrated strategy such as the One Health approach is needed to effectively manage pesticide-related risks.