Toxicity of Strobilurins fungicides: A comprehensive review

Abstract

Fungicides are being extensively used in the field of agriculture to increase production and reduce fungal infection. Strobilurins have emerged as one of the broadly used fungicides worldwide because of their less toxicity and highly efficient fungicidal activity. It is widely used against powdery mildew, white mold, rot, downy mildew, rust, and rice blast diseases in different crops like soybeans, rice, cereals, vegetables, and fruit trees, etc. Humans can get exposed to strobilurins through fruits or vegetables or water and dermal routes during spraying. During the past few years, strobilurin fungicides have been reported to exert an adverse impact on a variety of non-target organisms, including human beings, due to their large-scale use.  To review the experimental and epidemiologic data available showing the association between exposure to strobilurins and health effects. PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar etc. were searched for published studies on various Strobilurin fungicides. Based on the review, it was concluded that Strobilurins exert a toxicological impact on aquatic and terrestrial organisms via immunomodulation, cell apoptosis, endocrine disruption, oxidative stress, genotoxicity, etc. However its toxic effects are least reported on mammalian species, but excessive use of Strobilurins during pre and post-harvesting activities can lead to its accumulation in the natural environment that can cause an adverse impact on mammals as well. Therefore, to find out the toxic effects of Strobilurins, more studies should be conducted.