Photodegradation of Insecticide Chlorpyrifos in Aqueous Solution under Simulated Solar Light Irradiation Conditions using Babolrood River Water

Chlorpyrifos is an organophosphate insecticide, used to control foliage and soil-borne insect pests on a variety of food and feed crops. In the natural environment, Chlorpyrifos can be degraded through several possible processes, including photodegradation, biodegradation, and hydrolysis. In the present work the photodegradation and environmental fate of Chlorpyrifos in aqueous phase under simulated natural conditions in the presence of artificial UV-light was investigated. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) identification of Chlorpyrifos photodegradation products suggested the formation of only one major product, i.e., Chlorpyrifosoxon. Based on the structurally identified photoproduct a plausible degradation pathway is proposed for the photolysis of Chlorpyrifos in natural water over UV irradiated.