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Permethrin is widely used in agriculture and, although its mechanism of action, inter-
action with the sodium channel in nerve membranes, is similar to that of DDT, it is
not persistent in vivo or in the environment. The metabolism of permethrin has been
studied extensively in surrogate animals and, to a much lesser extent, in humans. A
detailed, and complex metabolic pathway, along with those for other synthetic pyre-
throids, is shown in
Kaneko (2010)
. Although these metabolic pathways emphasize
the involvement of cytochrome P450, the possibility has been raised that, at least in
humans (
Choi et al., 2003
), this is, to a large extent, secondary metabolism of pri-
mary metabolites formed by hydrolysis and subsequently acted upon by the ethanol
and aldehyde dehydrogenases (
Figure 9.7
).
O
O
O
O
HO
Cl
CH
3
CH
3
Cl
Phenoxybenzyl alcohol
Permethrin
+
O
OH
O
O
Cl
CH
3
CH
3
Cl
acid
Phenoxybenzaldehyde
HO
O
O
Phenoxybenzoic acid
Figure 9.7
In vitro metabolism of pyrethroid insecticides—permethrin.
Reproduced from Kaneko
(2010), Figure 76.19.
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