Herbicides remain the most effective, efficient and economical way to control weeds; and its market continues to grow even with the plethora of generic products With the development of herbicide-tolerant crops, use of herbicides is increasing around the world that has resulted in severe contamination of the environment The strategies are now being developed to clean these substances in an economical and eco-friendly manner In this review, an attempt has been made to pool all the available literature on the biodegradation of key herbicides, clodinafop propargyl, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, atrazine, metolachlor, diuron, glyphosate, imazapyr, pendimethalin and paraquat under the following objectives: (1) to highlight the general characteristic and mode of action, (2) to enlist toxicity in animals, (3) to pool microorganisms capable of degrading herbicides, (4) to discuss the assessment of herbicides degradation by efficient microbes, (5) to highlight biodegradation pathways, (6) to discuss the molecular basis of degradation, (7) to enlist the products of herbicides under degradation process, (8) to highlight the factors effecting biodegradation of herbicides and (9) to discuss the future aspects of herbicides degradation This review may be useful in developing safer and economic microbiological methods for cleanup of soil and water contaminated with such compounds

Causation and the defense of toxic tort litigation

Microbial degradation of herbicides.

Toxic torts are product liability cases dealing with alleged injuries due to chemical or biological hazards such as radiation, thalidomide, or Agent Orange. Toxic tort cases typically rely more heavily than other product liability cases on indirect or statistical proof of injury. There have been numerous theoretical analyses of statistical proof of injury in toxic tort cases. However, there have been only a handful of actual legal decisions regarding the use of such statistical evidence, and most of those decisions have been inconclusive. Recently, a major case from the Fifth Circuit, involving allegations that Benedectin (a morning sickness drug) caused birth defects, was decided entirely on the basis of statistical inference. This paper examines both the conceptual basis of that decision, and also the relationships among statistical inference, scientific evidence, and the rules of product liability in general.

Risk, statistical inference, and the law of evidence: the use of epidemiological data in toxic tort cases

The Henle-Koch postulates are reviewed in terms of their full validity in Koch's day and in light of subsequent developments. The changing guidelines developed for viral diseases, for viruses in relation to cancer and to chronic central nervous system infection, and for causative agents in chronic diseases are discussed chronologically. A set of guidelines for both acute infectious and chronic diseases is presented. The need for recognizing the role of the host and the spectrum of host responses, for sound biologic sense in evaluating causal roles of agents in disease, and for flexibility in adapting our guidelines to new knowledge are emphasized.

Causation and the defense of toxic tort litigation

Citations

Microbial degradation of herbicides.

Risk, statistical inference, and the law of evidence: the use of epidemiological data in toxic tort cases

References

Causation and Disease: The Henle-Koch Postulates Revisited

The rat as a model for human toxicological evaluation.

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