Monitoring and Evaluation of Pesticide Residues in Aquatic Systems

Pesticides are primarily used for crop protection in agriculture with global consumption of about two million tons per annum. Herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides are the major three classes of pesticides covering about 95% of the total pesticides use. Besides controlling the target pests, a large number of these pesticides adversely affect humans and other non-target organisms with acute and chronic toxic effects. Therefore, people who are professionally engaged in the process from pesticide production to application are most susceptible to various adverse health effects due to acute and chronic exposure. In addition, pesticides following application are circulated in various biotic and abiotic components of the environment including water. Moreover, a number of pesticides are persistent in the applied crops leading to residual toxicity in food. Consequently, the general population is also exposed to trace levels of pesticide residues through food and water. Therefore, regular monitoring of pesticide residues is indispensable for assessment of food and environmental safety.