The metabolism of fungicides

Of the three main groups of pesticides (insecticides, fungicides and herbicides), fungicides have probably the longest history, dating back to the accidental discovery in 1882 of Bordeaux mixture and the value of copper-based preparations for the control of vine downy mildew disease. In more recent times a wide range of fungicides have become available, including compounds with not only protectant but systemic activity, and total world-wide sales in 1983 were estimated at 2.8 billion dollars. This review attempts to summarize the current state of knowledge as it relates to the metabolism in animals and plants of examples of several of the major fungicide groups. Specifically the metabolism of maneb, mancozeb, zineb, captan, chlorothalonil, benomyl, triadimefon, triadimenol and cymoxanil are discussed.