Recent-enhancements in visible-light photocatalytic degradation of organochlorines pesticides: A review

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) belong to class of chlorinated hydrocarbon derivative. They come under the category of most hazardous pesticides and therefore have been banned in many countries. These compounds are highly toxic, bio-accumulative and highly persistent in nature and therefore removal of such pesticide is need of the hour. There have been conventional techniques based on the physical, chemical, and biological processes to decontaminate the contaminated water depending on the virtues of toxic contaminants present in wastewater. These conventional techniques have been utilized on a large scale by the industries. However, these techniques do not manage to remove the contaminants to a large extent and have different drawbacks. Therefore, to overcome such shortcomings, a highly efficient green technique is required to disintegrate the toxic contaminants either completely or convert them into non-hazardous substances. Photocatalysis is a green technique and has attracted attention in the degradation of persistent organic pollutants in water and convert them into non-hazardous compounds. This review outlines all major types of OCPs, their metabolites, the different techniques for their removal global concern towards pesticide effect and areas which requires additional research, have been discussed here.