Toxicological effects, environmental behaviors and remediation technologies of herbicide atrazine in soil and sediment: A comprehensive review

Jianning Chang; Wei Fang; Le Chen; Panyue Zhang; Guangming Zhang; Haibo Zhang; Jinsong Liang; Qingyan Wang; Weifang Ma

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136006

Toxicological effects, environmental behaviors and remediation technologies of herbicide atrazine in soil and sediment: A comprehensive review

Chemosphere. 2022 Nov;307(Pt 3):136006. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136006. Epub 2022 Aug 13.

Authors

Jianning Chang¹, Wei Fang¹, Le Chen¹, Panyue Zhang², Guangming Zhang³, Haibo Zhang⁴, Jinsong Liang¹, Qingyan Wang¹, Weifang Ma¹

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Key Lab for Source Control Technology of Water Pollution, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China; Engineering Research Center for Water Pollution Source Control & Eco-remediation, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China.
² Beijing Key Lab for Source Control Technology of Water Pollution, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China; Engineering Research Center for Water Pollution Source Control & Eco-remediation, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China. Electronic address: panyue_zhang@bjfu.edu.cn.
³ School of Energy & Environmental Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin, 300130, China. Electronic address: 2020017@hebut.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Resources and Environment, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, 030801, China.

PMID: 35973488
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.136006

Abstract

Atrazine has become one of the most popular applied triazine herbicides in the world due to its high herbicidal efficiency and low price. With its large-dosage and long-term use on a global scale, atrazine can cause widespread and persistent contamination of soil and sediment. This review systematically evaluates the toxicological effects, environmental risks, environmental behaviors (adsorption, transport and transformation, and bioaccumulation) of atrazine, and the remediation technologies of atrazine-contaminated soil and sediment. For the adsorption behavior of atrazine on soil and sediment, the organic matter content plays an extremely important role in the adsorption process. Various models and equations such as the multi-media fugacity model and solute transport model are used to analyze the migration and transformation process of atrazine in soil and sediment. It is worth noting that certain transformation products of atrazine in the environment even have stronger toxicity and mobility than its parent. Among various remediation technologies, the combination of microbial remediation and phytoremediation for atrazine-contaminated soil and sediment has wide application prospects. Although other remediation technologies such as advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) can also efficiently remove atrazine from soil, some potential problems still need to be further clarified. Finally, some related challenges and prospects are proposed.

Keywords: Atrazine; Environmental behaviors; Remediation technologies; Soil and sediment; Toxicological effects.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Atrazine* / analysis
Atrazine* / toxicity
Biodegradation, Environmental
Herbicides* / analysis
Herbicides* / toxicity
Soil
Soil Pollutants* / analysis
Soil Pollutants* / toxicity

Substances

Herbicides
Soil
Soil Pollutants
Atrazine