Chlorothalonil is a broad-spectrum organic fungicide mainly used to control fungi that threatens a number of agricultural crops, vegetables, trees, fruits, turf and paints, etc. It can also serves as a wood protectant, pesticide, acaricide, which is effective to kill mildew, bacteria, algae, and insects. Besides, it can commercially act as a preservative additive in several paints, resins, emulsions, coatings and can be used on commercial grasses such as golf courses and lawns.
Chlorothalonil was first registered by the EPA in 1966. It is environmentally persistent and binds strongly with soil, whose expected half-life in aerobic soils is one to three months. Chlorothalonil functions by reducing the intracellular glutathione molecules of fungal to alternate its forms which affects the essential enzymatic reactions of fungal, ultimately leading to cell death.