ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the distribution of phospholipids in the environment together with their pathways of degradation and their interactions with agents used in environmental protection. It provides approaches that may be taken in assessing the environmental impact of modified or synthetic phospholipids and related compounds used in liposomal preparations. The major constituents of most liposomal products are phospholipids. Phospholipids are the major lipid components of most cell membranes, be they mammalian, fish, plant, invertebrate, bacterial, or fungal. A major fatty acid present in the phospholipids of microorganisms is palmitic acid, linoleic acid also occurring in high amounts in fungi. In most algae, phospholipids represent a major component of the total lipids, varying between 15 to 50%. Several phospholipids have been detected in protozoa, though, which are not detectable in mammals, such as ethanolamine sphingo-phosphonolipids. As with herbicides, the spraying of fungicides with phospholipids appears to be associated with increased targeting of the fungus and a consequent reduction in ecotoxic hazard.
