Metabolism may be temperature dependent. Pesticide persistence is often expressed in terms of half-life. This is the time required for one-half the original quantity to break down. Because half-life values can vary considerably depending on environmental conditions, they are often reported as a range for each media. The complete breakdown of pesticides and other organic substances is called mineralization.
Pesticides usually form many break down products.
These products break down to other products. There can be many steps before mineralization. Rarely is it known if and when a pesticide has mineralized. Some pesticide break down products are incorporated into soil organic matter. Those taken up by plants or animals may be used by the organism or the metabolites excreted.