Ecofriendly Approaches for Remediation of Pesticides in Contaminated Environs

Abstract

Water is an essential part of human life, without which survival is not possible. The sources of freshwater are continuously being degraded by various human activities like improper wastewater discharge, unscientific solid waste management, rapid industrialization, urbanization and pesticide application. Application of pesticides for reducing the population of pests into the agricultural and related fields not only affects the target organisms, but also affects the vital organisms in the soil and damages the quality of water ecosystem. These substances affect human beings badly. Pesticides application on crops directly affects non-target organisms, soil health and also reaches to water bodies by leaching from the soil. Undoubtedly, pesticides are helping to increase the crop yield in short time but in long run, it degrades the microorganism present in soil and water ecosystem. Physical and chemical treatments for pesticide removal are expensive as well as inefficient for sustainable future. Bioremediation using microorganisms (bacteria, algae and fungi) can remove pesticides from environment in versatile, cost effective and ecofriendly manner thus help in remediation of contaminated ecosystem.