A review on the removal methods of organophosphate insecticide malathion from the environment

AbstractThis review study was done by searching the keywords related to malathion, decomposition, physicalchemical methods and biological methods within the sites related to valid medical and health journals and reliable bases, such as, Web of Science, Ovid, PubMed, Systematic Review , SID and Google Scholar. Totally, 140 references were reviewed and eventually 88 references concentrating on the studies in Iran and the world were selected. This study showed that the removal amount of Malathion in physical-chemical methods was higher than 90% in 68% of the articles while in 32%, it was less than 90%. In the biological methods, in 46% of the articles, the removal amount of Malathion was higher than 90% while in the other 54%, it was less than 90%. The most applied method for removing Malathion was biological methods. Among the used methods, using bacteria was applied more than other methods. Due to the low cost, high efficiency and eco-friendliness of biological methods, using biological methods was better than the physical-chemical methods.