Organophosphate pesticide: usage, environmental exposure, health effects, and microbial bioremediation

With the increasing human population, the primary dependence upon the agrarian society to meet the food requirements is at an all-time high. To fulfill these requirements, the farming community’s dependency on insecticides and pesticides is no hidden fact. Over the last few decades, the injudicious use of chemical inputs, especially organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) has resulted in serious environmental concerns. In recent times, environmental exposure to OPPs is being observed among all age groups. Health risks associated with the nontargeted niche has further compounded the problems. The need of the hour is to mitigate the environmental pollution being caused by the indiscriminate use of these chemical compounds in the agriculture sector. Developing sustainable biotechnologies by harnessing the potential of diverse microbial communities is one of the ways forward and the implementation of recent scientific advancements can certainly help in refining the existing microbial remediation technologies.