Biopurification systems: Current advances and future prospects of on-farm biodegradation of pesticides

Abstract

The mishandling of agrochemical residues in agriculture exerts an important risk for the environment due to point source contamination. To minimize environmental exposure to pesticides, biopurification systems (BPS) have been developed as a biotechnological tool for the on-farm treatment of pesticidecontaining wastewater of agricultural origin. Although efficient in the removal of diverse pesticides, highly recalcitrant compounds have shown poor elimination in BPS; moreover, the performance of BPS still needs to be evaluated for many agrochemicals and their sustainability should be assessed in real pesticide application cycles for specific crops. Recent studies describe the use of BPS for the removal of antibiotics of agricultural use; this approach required a previous assessment on the impact of antibiotics on BPS performance, which in most cases has revealed the absence of significant adverse effects on pesticide removal. Similarly, novel applications propose the potential use of BPS for the removal of pharmaceuticals from polluted matrices such as water or sludge. The degradation processes taking place within BPS and their link with the resident microbial communities have been scarcely studied to date; they are critical to achieve proper design and optimization of these systems. This chapter covers general aspects of BPS and their application scope to pesticides; special attention is given to novel topics such as the treatment and effect of antibiotics from agricultural wastewater and pharmaceutical-containing matrices, as well as the description of microbial communities within BPS.