
Chlorpyrifos (CP) is one of the organophosphate insecticides most used worldwide today. Its greatest use is in agriculture on fruits, grains, vegetables, cotton, sugar cane, and coffee (Solomon et al. 2014), although it is also used in livestock, ornamental plants, and the grass of golf courses. As a consequence of its widespread use as well as its physical-chemical properties (solubility), it is easily washed into ground and surface waters, even marine environment, leading to accumulation in sediments given its hydrophobicity (Giesy et al. 1999; Gebremariam et al. 2012). The main degradation product of CP is 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP) (Xu et al. 2008) produced by hydrolytic and photolytic mechanisms (Baskaran et al. 2003). TCP is more water-soluble than the parent compound which provokes a high mobility causing contamination in soils and aquatic environments.
