Rabbit Litter-Derived Carbon Materials for Organophosphate Pesticide Mitigation: Adsorption Performance, Neurotoxicity Reduction, and Genotoxicity Assessment

Organophosphate pesticides are widely used agricultural chemicals that pose significant environmental and health risks due to their neurotoxicity, which is associated with inhibition of acetylcholinesterase. In this study, carbon materials derived from rabbit litter-based precursors were investigated as sustainable adsorbents for the removal of organophosphate pesticides from aqueous systems. The prepared materials exhibited a broad range of textural properties, with specific surface areas ranging from 10 to 487 m2 g−1, depending on the precursor composition. Adsorption experiments demonstrated measurable removal of chlorpyrifos, malathion, and dimethoate, with maximum adsorption capacities reaching 71.8 mg g−1 for malathion, although adsorption performance varied among materials, indicating a combined influence of pore accessibility and surface chemical heterogeneity. Evaluation of acetylcholinesterase inhibition before and after adsorption showed a consistent decrease in enzyme inhibition across all systems, with values reduced from 40% to as low as 20% for chlorpyrifos, from 35% to as low as 11% for malathion, and from 20% to as low as 10% for dimethoate, indicating a reduction in the neurotoxic potential of the treated solutions. In addition, the genotoxicity of the carbon materials varied with their structural and compositional characteristics, underscoring the importance of considering both adsorption performance and biological interactions. These findings demonstrate that waste-derived carbon materials can contribute to the removal of organophosphate contaminants while simultaneously reducing their associated neurotoxic effects.