Use and impact of pesticides in Egypt

Pesticides used in Egypt are of different types such as organochlorine, organophosphorus, carbamates, ureas, anilides and pyrethroid. The four general categories of these pesticides are insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and bactericides. Organophosphorus insecticides are of great significance in pest control and increasingly used instead of organochlorine insecticides. Organophosphorus insecticides represent more than 80% of total insecticides used during 1995. Fungicides account for 65.5% of pesticides used in Egypt during the period 1994-95 and agricultural use constitutes the majority of applications. Herbicides account for less than 4% of the pesticides used during 1995 in Egypt. The residue levels of some organochlorine insecticides (OCIs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in water, sediment and fish samples collected from the River Nile, lakes, drains and irrigation canals were determined. The highest concentration of OCI was found in samples collected from site located at north of Aswan (2.2 ...