Bioremediation of pesticides from soil and wastewater

Abstract

The rapid increase in demand and development of industrial chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides and pharmaceuticals to sustain and improve quality of life worldwide have resulted in the contamination and high prevalence of these chemicals in air, water and soils, posing a potential threat to the environment. Pesticides are a common hazard around the world, as these chemicals are leaching into soils, groundwater and surface water and creating health concerns in many communities. The persistence of pesticides makes their removal and detoxification a more urgent undertaking. The toxicity or the contamination of pesticides can be reduced by the bioremediation process which involves the use of microbes or plants. Bioremediation technologies have been successfully employed in the field and are gaining more and more importance with increased acceptance of eco-friendly remediation solutions. Owing to complex nature of pesticides, more versatile and robust techniques need to be developed which can produce the desired result in a very cost-effective manner.