2 Different Sources of Pesticide Contamination
Due to regular anthropogenic activities, the global environmental pollution has
increased rapidly. Several persistent toxic compounds, like synthetic pesticides,
industrial toxicants, organic solvents, and detergents, are contaminating the environment. Among these pesticides are of great concern (Ollera et al. 2011) due to its
toxicity and persistency. The pesticides are released into the environment by several
sources, i.e., emissions from agricultural activities, manufacturing and formulation
industries, municipal waste, and soil infiltration. Recently, due to the development of
agriculture and industry, large amounts of pesticides and other chemicals have been
released into the environment (Morillo and Villaverde 2017; Varjani et al. 2018).
Agriculture and forestry are the primary source of pesticide contamination in the
environment. The increased food demand due to the rapidly growing population has
promoted the use of pesticides in different agricultural activities with an increasing
rate (Morillo and Villaverde 2017). Agricultural runoff, industrial wastewater, and
chemical spills can greatly promote the pollution of pesticides in the environment
through biological amplification (Duirk and Collette 2005). Pesticides may pollute
the environment through two sources, point sources and nonpoint sources. The point
source is a recognizable source of pollution, while a nonpoint source is a source from
a wide area. It is impossible to distinguish pollution sources in a large area, such as
the transfer of pesticides to surface water from multiple sources that pollute aquatic
and terrestrial ecosystems. The common point sources of pesticide pollution in the
environment are as follows: agricultural discharge, municipal waste, pesticides
application in the agricultural field, wastewater discharge from the agricultural
industry, plant residues contaminated by pesticides, improper treatment, and disposal of organic waste near water sources. The most common source of soil
penetration, wastewater from spraying containers, and pesticide pollution is cleaning
used containers (Neumann et al. 2002; Spanoghe et al. 2004). Opposite to this,
nonpoint source pollution of pesticides has no specific discharge point, which is also
called diffusion source. Agriculture is the main source of diffuse pollution, and its
management is very complex, requiring careful analysis and understanding of many
natural and man-made processes (Müller et al. 2002). So far, many treatment
technologies have been practiced, but most of them cannot achieve satisfactory
degradation effects (Gaya and Abdullah 2008).
3 Bioremediation of Pesticide
Bioremediation is considered as the treatment of polluted environmental medium,
such as soil, water, and subsurface material, by altering the environmental condition
that supports the microbial growth and development for degrading the target compounds. However, biodegradation is the process in which microbial biomass can
effectively break down organic substances into its metabolites. Due to the long life
8 Bioremediation: Efficient Technology to Combat Pesticide Pollutants in. . .
153
Due to regular anthropogenic activities, the global environmental pollution has
increased rapidly. Several persistent toxic compounds, like synthetic pesticides,
industrial toxicants, organic solvents, and detergents, are contaminating the environment. Among these pesticides are of great concern (Ollera et al. 2011) due to its
toxicity and persistency. The pesticides are released into the environment by several
sources, i.e., emissions from agricultural activities, manufacturing and formulation
industries, municipal waste, and soil infiltration. Recently, due to the development of
agriculture and industry, large amounts of pesticides and other chemicals have been
released into the environment (Morillo and Villaverde 2017; Varjani et al. 2018).
Agriculture and forestry are the primary source of pesticide contamination in the
environment. The increased food demand due to the rapidly growing population has
promoted the use of pesticides in different agricultural activities with an increasing
rate (Morillo and Villaverde 2017). Agricultural runoff, industrial wastewater, and
chemical spills can greatly promote the pollution of pesticides in the environment
through biological amplification (Duirk and Collette 2005). Pesticides may pollute
the environment through two sources, point sources and nonpoint sources. The point
source is a recognizable source of pollution, while a nonpoint source is a source from
a wide area. It is impossible to distinguish pollution sources in a large area, such as
the transfer of pesticides to surface water from multiple sources that pollute aquatic
and terrestrial ecosystems. The common point sources of pesticide pollution in the
environment are as follows: agricultural discharge, municipal waste, pesticides
application in the agricultural field, wastewater discharge from the agricultural
industry, plant residues contaminated by pesticides, improper treatment, and disposal of organic waste near water sources. The most common source of soil
penetration, wastewater from spraying containers, and pesticide pollution is cleaning
used containers (Neumann et al. 2002; Spanoghe et al. 2004). Opposite to this,
nonpoint source pollution of pesticides has no specific discharge point, which is also
called diffusion source. Agriculture is the main source of diffuse pollution, and its
management is very complex, requiring careful analysis and understanding of many
natural and man-made processes (Müller et al. 2002). So far, many treatment
technologies have been practiced, but most of them cannot achieve satisfactory
degradation effects (Gaya and Abdullah 2008).
3 Bioremediation of Pesticide
Bioremediation is considered as the treatment of polluted environmental medium,
such as soil, water, and subsurface material, by altering the environmental condition
that supports the microbial growth and development for degrading the target compounds. However, biodegradation is the process in which microbial biomass can
effectively break down organic substances into its metabolites. Due to the long life
8 Bioremediation: Efficient Technology to Combat Pesticide Pollutants in. . .
153