Nanobioremediation of pesticides by immobilization technique: a review

Pesticides are chemical or biological agents purposely intended for preventing, controlling or killing of any pests or weeds which helps in increasing agricultural yield, product quality and minimizing losses of agricultural products. Although pesticides have been considered as beneficial for the entire agricultural sector, but in the past few years mankind has also noticed its demerits. In the short term, pesticides significantly aid pest control. In the long term, however, pesticides appear to be harmful for the health of humans and the environment. Physical, chemical and biological methods are being used in order to minimize the negative effects of pesticides. Physico-chemical approaches sometimes show incomplete remediation producing equally or more harmful products and are also more expensive. Thus, biological methods are preferred. Recent years have seen the emergence of nanobiotechnology as a helpful tool in degradation of pesticides. This technique becomes more advantageous when nanoparticles are combined with microorganisms directly or indirectly. This review focuses on traditional microbial degradation of pesticides along with advancement in this field with the help of nanoparticles combined with microbes in one way or another.