The worldwide contamination of waters and food by herbicides is a major health issue, yet the toxic effects of herbicides to non-target organisms and ecosystems have been poorly summarized. Here we review the effects of herbicides belonging to the groups of chloroacetanilides, imidazolinones, sulfonylureas, and pyrimidinylcarboxylic, on small invertebrates, high vertebrates, plants, and the surrounding ecosystems. We describe toxicity in terms of behavioural changes, molecular biosynthesis, endocrine disruption, immunological responses, enzymatic alteration, and reproductive disorders. Strategies to decrease toxic effects are also presented. We observe widespread toxicity threats in amphibians and major aquatic species. Each herbicide group displays a different toxicity risk. For instance, chloroacetanilides display higher risks to soil, aquatic, algal, cyanobacteria, and terrestrial species, whereas alachlor, acetochlor, and metolachlor are highly carcinogenic to humans. Most imidazolinone herbicides cause phytotoxicity in non-target and succeeding crops. Sulfonyl-urea herbicides are severely toxic to soil microbes and succeeding crops. Pyrimidinylcarboxy herbicides are more toxic to soil microbes, aquatic species, and rats.

除草剂对世界范围内的水和食物的污染是一个重大的健康问题，但除草剂对非目标生物和生态系统的毒性作用却很少被总结。在这里，我们回顾了氯乙酰苯胺类、咪唑啉酮类、磺酰脲类和嘧啶羧酸类除草剂对小型无脊椎动物、高等脊椎动物、植物和周围生态系统的影响。我们从行为改变、分子生物合成、内分泌干扰、免疫反应、酶促改变和生殖障碍等方面描述毒性。还提出了减少毒性作用的策略。我们观察到两栖动物和主要水生物种普遍存在毒性威胁。每个除草剂组都表现出不同的毒性风险。例如，氯乙酰苯胺对土壤、水生、藻类、蓝藻和陆地物种显示出较高的风险，而甲草胺、乙草胺和异丙甲草胺对人类具有高度致癌性。大多数咪唑啉酮除草剂会对非目标作物和后继作物产生植物毒性。磺酰脲除草剂对土壤微生物和后茬作物具有剧毒。嘧啶基羧基除草剂对土壤微生物、水生物种和老鼠的毒性更大。