DETOXIFICATION OF ORGANOPHOSPHORUS AGROCHEMICALS AND PROPOSITION OF NEW BIOSELECTIVE PESTICIDES

• Grant number: 18/24994-9
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: March 01, 2019
• End date: May 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Marcela de Freitas Lima
• Grantee: Marcela de Freitas Lima
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In 2013 Brazil has established itself as a major producer of grain and ethanol, and consequently largest importer of pesticides aimed at these purposes, including the glyphosate herbicide worldwide leader in sales. To maintain its lead over, Brazil in the coming years should hit records in these two lines, commodity exporter and importer of high-value material. This trade balance is not equilibrated. Brazil needs to hold sustainable technologies to maintain its leadership in the production of food and energy. One of the consequences of this discrepancy is the emergence of illegal pesticides that attempt to minimize the impact of high amounts invested in imported technologies. When a shipment of these substances of unknown or illegal is seized, its destination at best is incineration, a process that requires high processing costs (energetically unfeasible) and eliminates toxic gases that are difficult to contain or to neutralize. The proposal submitted to FAPESP grant aims to study and create a set of methods for environmentally sustainable degradation of organophosphorus pesticides, and based on the knowledge acquired in their decomposition to correlate them with their toxicological impact, and to propose new substances or materials designed to bio-selective control of pests that affect the regions intended for agricultural activity. The funds approved for this proposal will allow the proponent to establish a research group on phosphorus chemistry that will permit the longer longevity and breadth in training high-quality human resources in this promising area. (AU)