Degradation of chlorpyrifos, an organophosphorus insecticide in aqueous solution with gamma irradiation and natural sunlight

The radiation induced degradation of chlorpyrifos, an organophosphorus insecticide, was studied using gamma irradiation and sunlight. Chlorpyrifos was analysed by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with Photo Diode Array (PDA) detector. The effect of various doses (1–10 kGy) of gamma irradiation on the degradation of different concentrations (5, 10 and 20 mg/l) of chlorpyrifos insecticide in distilled water was investigated. The lowest tested concentration (5 mg/l) indicated higher removal compare to higher concentration (10–20 mg/l) and irrespective of the absorbed doses (1–10 kGy) and the study revealed a direct relation between absorbed dose and percent of pesticides removal. The degradation of chlorpyrifos by sunlight in distilled water was 39.5% in 12 days, whereas 51.95% was degraded in lake water under…