BIOREMEDIATION OF PESTICIDES

FROM AGRICULTURAL FIELD

NAME-
ROLL NO-

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This report is an outstanding prospect to convey my gratefulness to those many

people whose timely help and guidance went a long way in finishing this project
work from commencement to achievement.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Prof. Dr. Mausumi Singh Sengupta
(principal of our college) for giving me an opportunity to pursue the project.

This project could not have been completed without the able guidance and support
ofProf. Ananya Kundu Dey (project supervisor) and Prof. Dr. Suchismita
Das(H.O.D, Microbiology)and all departmental teachers.

Last but not the least would like to thank my friends, my family members and all
the people who helped me for completion and deeper understanding of the concept
of the performance appraisal.

Work on this project has proved to be an enlightening experience for me.

--------------------------------------

Signature of the Candidate

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 CONTENTS

SERIAL NO. TOPIC PAGE NO.

01. Abstract 4

02. Introduction 5

03. Study Of Objectives 11

04. Study Area with Location 12

05. Methodology 13

06. Result and discussion 14

07. Conclusion 15

08. Bibliography 16

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 ABSTRACT.

Pesticides are one of the persistent organic pollutants which are of concern due to
their occurrence in various ecosystems. In nature, the pesticide residues are
subjected to physical, chemical and biochemical degradation process, but because of
its high stability and water solubility, the pesticide residues persist in the
environment. Moreover, the prevailing environmental conditions like the soil
characteristics also contribute for their persistence.
Bioavailability of a compound depends on numerous factors within the cells of
microorganism like the transportation of susbstrate across cell membrane,
enzymatic reactions, biosurfactant production etc. as well as environment conditions
such as pH, temperature, availability of electron acceptor etc.
Bioremediation is one of the options for the removal of pesticides from
environment as they are organic pollutants. One important uncertainty associated
with the implementation of bioremediation is the low bioavailability of some of the
pesticides in the heterogeneous subsurface environment. Large numbers of
contaminants in which pesticide have pose aserious threat to human health as
well as to the natural ecosystem. Bioremediation provides an ecofriendly,
economical and efficient method for detoxification of pesticides.

Keywords: Bioavailability, Biosurfectant, Bioremediation, Pesticides.

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 INTRODUCTION

What are Pesticides?

Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests, including weeds. The term
pesticide includes all of the following: herbicide, insecticides (which may
include insect growth regulators, termiticides,
etc.) nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect
repellent, animal repellent, antimicrobial, fungicide and disinfectant (antimicrobial).
The most common of these are herbicides which account for approximately 80% of
all pesticide use.[3] Most pesticides are intended to serve as plant protection products
(also known as crop protection products), which in general, protect plants
from weeds, fungi, or insects.
In general, a pesticide is a chemical or biological agent (such as a virus, bacterium,
or fungus) that deters, incapacitates, kills, or otherwise discourages pests. Target
pests can include insects, plant pathogens,
weeds, molluscs, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes (roundworms), and microbes that
destroy property, cause nuisance, or spread disease, or are disease vectors. Along
with these benefits, pesticides also have drawbacks, such as potential toxicity to
humans and other species.

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Types of Pesticides:
These are grouped according to the types of pests which they kill:
Grouped by Types of Pests

Type of pesticide Target pest group

Avicides Birds
Bactericides Bacteria
Fungicides Fungi
Herbicides Plants
Insecticides Insects
Molluscicides Snails
Nematicides Nematodes
Virucides Viruses
Rodenticides Rodents

Based ontheirbiodegradability,pesticides can also be considered as:

Biodegradable:
The biodegradable kind is those which can be broken down by microbes and other
living beings into harmless compounds.

Persistent:

While the persistent ones are those which may take months or years to break down.
Another way to classify these is to consider those that are chemical forms or are
derived from a common source or production method.
Biopesticides:
The bio pesticides are certain types of pesticides derived from such natural materials
as animals, plants, bacteria, and certain mineral.

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 Example:entomopathogenic fungi

(e.g. Beauveriabassiana , Isariafumosorosea,

Lecanicillium and Metarhiziumspp.)

Chemically-related pesticides:
Use of chemically prepared compounds & their
derivatives to kill or to eliminate the pests.

Some of these are:-

Carbamate:
Similar to the
organophosphorus
pesticides, the carbamate
pesticides also affect the
nervous system by disrupting
an enzyme that regulates the
neurotransmitter. However,
the enzyme effects are
usually reversible.

Organochlorine insecticides:
They were commonly used earlier, but now many countries have been removed
Organochlorine insecticides from their market due to their health and environmental
effects and their persistence (e.g., DDT, chlordane, and toxaphene).

Sulfonylurea herbicides:
The sulfonylureas herbicides have been commercialized for weed control such as
pyrithiobac-sodium, cyclosulfamuron, bispyribac-sodium, terbacil, sulfometuron-
methyl Sulfosulfuron, rimsulfuron, pyrazosulfuron-ethyl, imazosulfuron,
nicosulfuron, oxasulfuron, nicosulfuron, flazasulfuron, primisulfuron-methyl,
halosulfuron-methyl, flupyrsulfuron-methyl-sodium, ethoxysulfuron, chlorimuron-
ethyl, bensulfuron-methyl, azimsulfuron, and amidosulfuron.

Organophosphate:

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Most organophosphates are insecticides, they affect the nervous system by
disrupting the enzyme that regulates a neurotransmitter.

Pyrethroid:
These are a synthetic version of pyrethrin, a naturally occurring pesticide, found in
chrysanthemums (Flower). They were developed in such a way as to maximise their
stability in the environment.

Benefits of Pesticides
The major advantage of pesticides is that they can save farmers. By protecting crops
from insects and other pests. However, below are some other primary benefits of it.

Controlling pests and plant disease vectors

⮚ Improved crop yields

⮚ Improved crop/livestock quality
⮚ Invasive species controlled

Controlling human/livestock disease vectors and nuisance organisms

⮚ Human lives saved and disease reduced. Diseases controlled include

malaria, with millions of lives having been saved or enhanced with the use
of DDT alone.
⮚ Animal lives saved and disease reduced

Controlling organisms that harm other human activities and structures

⮚ Drivers view unobstructed

⮚ Tree/brush/leaf hazards prevented
⮚ Wooden structures protected

Effects of Pesticides.

❖ On Health :

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 ⮚ Chronic health effects include cancer and other tumors; brain and
nervous system damage; birth defects; infertility and other reproductive
problems; and damage to the liver, kidneys, lungs and other body
organs. Chronic effects may not appear for weeks, months or even
years after exposure, making it difficult to link health impacts to
pesticides.
⮚ Pesticides have been implicated in human studies of leukemia,
lymphoma and cancers of the brain, breasts, prostate, testis and ovaries.
Reproductive harm from pesticides includes birth defects, still birth,
spontaneous abortion, sterility and infertility. Some pesticides act as
endocrine disruptors and have been shown to cause serious harm to
animals, including cancer, sterility and developmental problems.
Similar impacts have been associated with human exposure to these
chemicals.

❖ On Terrestrial Environment:

⮚ Pesticides are biocides designed to be toxic to particular groups of organisms.

They can have considerable adverse environmental effects, which may be
extremely diverse Some pesticides are highly specific and others broad
spectrum; both types can affect terrestrial wildlife, soil, water systems, and
humans. Pesticides have had some of their most striking effects on birds,
particularly those in the higher trophic levels of food chains, such as bald
eagles, hawks, and owls. These birds are often rare, endangered, and
susceptible to pesticide residues such as those occurring from the
bioconcentration of organ chlorine insecticides through terrestrial food
chains. Pesticides may kill grain- and plant-feeding birds, and the elimination
of many rare species of ducks and geese has been reported. Populations of
insect-eating birds such as partridges, grouse, and pheasants have decreased
due to the loss of their insect food in agricultural fields through the use of
insecticides, are extremely important in the pollination of crops and wild
plants, and although pesticides are screened for toxicity to bees, and the use
of pesticides toxic to bees is permitted only under stringent conditions, many
bees are killed by pesticides, resulting in the considerably reduced yield of
crops dependent on bee pollination.

❖ On Soil and Crops:

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 ⮚ When farmers across the world began to rely on chemical pesticides, a
drastic change in soil health followed. When the health of soil is
compromised, the nutritional value of the food it yields is
compromised as well. Chemical pesticides not only deplete the
nutritional value of our food, but they also contaminate it. Research has
consistently found pesticide residues in a third of food, including
apples, baby food, bread, cereal bars, fresh salmon, lemons, lettuces,
peaches, nectarines, potatoes and strawberries.

❖ On Air:

⮚ Pesticides can contribute to air pollution. Pesticide drift occurs when

pesticides suspended in the air as particles are carried by wind to other
areas, potentially contaminating them. Pesticides that are applied to
crops can volatilize and may be blown by winds into nearby areas,
potentially posing a threat to wildlife.

What is Bioremediation?
Bioremediation is a branch of biotechnology which deals with the use of living
organisms such as microbes and bacteria to remove contaminants, pollutants and
toxins from soil and water. It can be used to clean up environmental problems like
an oil spill or contaminated groundwater.

Bioremediation relies on stimulating the growth of certain microbes that use

contaminants like oil, solvents, and pesticides as a source of food and energy. These
microbes consume the contaminants, converting them into small amounts of water
and harmless gases like carbon dioxide. Effective bioremediation needs a
combination of the right temperature, nutrients, and food; otherwise, it may take
much longer for the cleanup of contaminants. If conditions are not favorable for
bioremediation, they can be improved by adding “amendments” to the environment,
such as molasses, vegetable oil or simply air. These amendments create optimum
conditions for microbes to flourish and complete the bioremediation process.

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Advantages

● •The process of bioremediation creates few harmful byproducts, since

contaminants and pollutants are converted into water and harmless gases like
carbon dioxide.
● •Finally, bioremediations is cheaper than most cleanup methods, as it does not
require a great deal of equipment or labor.
●

STUDY OF OBJECTIVES.
❖ To study the crop wise pesticide use pattern and to determine the most abused
pesticides which need immediate attention for their bioremediation.
❖ To isolate, screen and develop microbial cultures for bioremediation of
pesticide contaminated soil.
❖ To study the bioremediation capability of mono-cultures and mixed-cultures
under laboratory and field condition.
❖ To examine the enzymatic changes triggered in the bioremediation of
pesticide contaminated soil by test isolates.

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 ❖ To study the effect of soil amendments and water availability in the clean-up
process.

STUDY AREA WITH LOCATION : AJMER.

Ajmer pronounced [ədʒmeːr] ) is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian
state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at
the centre of Rajasthan.
Ajmer is in the northwest of India and is surrounded by the Aravali Mountains. It is
situated on the lower slopes of the Taragarh Hill of that range. To the northwest is
the Nagapathar Range of the Aravali Mountain Ranges which protects it from
desertification from the Thar Desert.
The latitude of Ajmer, Rajasthan, India is 26.449896, and the longitude is
74.639915. Ajmer, Rajasthan, India is located at India country in the Cities
place category with the gps coordinates of 26° 26' 59.6256'' N and 74° 38'
23.6940'' E.
Tabiji farm near beawar road ofajmer city, Rajasthanwas
purposivelyselectedforthestudyareabecauseofcommercialcultivationofvegetable
s,
jowar,wheat,bajra,pulses, & it is nearest to main market.

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 METHODOLOGY

An alternative method for analysis with high precision and accuracy requires the
use of radiolabelled pesticides. The use of 14C-radiolabelled pesticide allows very
sensitive and specific measurements i.e. the rate of degradation of pesticide,
metabolites or mineralization as 14CO2 evolution. The technique provides the
actual image of microbial degradation of pesticides.
To study the microbial degradation of pesticide random soil sampling of
agricultural field with utmost precision is required. Depending on experimental
design or analysis, the soil sampling requires a precision to reduce the uncertainty
and variability in results. Reduced microbial activity has been reported when soil
samples were stored in field in moist condition at 4°C for three months. Similarly,
pesticide residue analysis needs to be performed in a short time to avoid the changes
during the storage. Residue analyses are influenced by uncertainty and variability
during sampling processing.

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 Result and Discussion.
Name of the Pesticides Microorganisms involved in
the degradation
Cypermetherin, Imidacloprid, Metalaxyl, Pseudomonas sp.
Chlorpyrifos, Atrazine, Oxyflurofen
Tetrachlorvinfos Vibrio sp.

Oxyfluorfen Acetamiprid Sphingomonas sp.

Metamitron, Tebuconazole Rhodococcus sp.

Cypermetherin, Dimethoate, Diuron Micrococcus sp.

Showing the bar diagram of bioreduction of some pesticides used in study area
tabiji farm of Ajmer.

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The surface soil contamination with pesticides is a common environmental problem
posed by repeated and continuous use in agricultural field. The present study was
carried out with the aim of establishment of high effective remediation method of
remediation of persistent pesticides using identified microorganisms in surface soil
terminator reactor. The presence of nutrients as well as bacterial consortium in soil
has been found to have great influence for bioremediation of pesticides.
Acenetobactor sp. , Pseudomonous sp. , Enterobacter sp. and Photobacterium sp.
from agricultural field was used for the remediation of pesticides

CONCLUSION

The present work strongly on firms that farmers of Mathabhanga block I and
Mekhliganj Block and their family members were highly exposed to extremely
harmful, constrained and also some banned pesticides, without sufficient protective
measure. In this highly upsetting situation, immediate educational and practical
training intrusion on pesticide handling and safety measures are very much needed
in order to alter the existing present situation to protect farmers, environment and
healthy Biodiversity scenario of the region. Farmers alleged that over the years the
vulnerabilities of pests is increasing and greater quantities of pesticides required for
controlling pests. Governmental involvements and efforts, such as controls on use
of hazardous poisonous pesticides, scrutinizing of labels and strict enforcement of
good agricultural practices are really required to diminish pesticide exposure of
farmers and the general population. Farmers have not followed sufficient safety
measures regarding pesticide application which is well documented. Most of the
family members of the farmers suffer from general ill health due to the harmful side

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effects caused by the handling of these poisonous chemicals. Farmers had
inadequate knowledge of integrated pest management as well as the consequences
of pesticide use in vegetable cultivation. Increasing farmers’ awareness of pesticide
harshness to the environment and endorsement of alternative pest management
strategies such as use of bio-pesticides and IPM, initiative of NGOs is immediately
needed for decreasing objectionable effect on environment and protect the
Biodiversity scenario of the region.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
● Sac deva S. “Pesticides and their Socio- Economic Impact on Agriculture.”
Southern Economist.,pp5-6, 2007.

● Saha.A, “A study on farmers’ understanding, awareness and intensity of

destructive effects of pesticide use in vegetable farming in Coochbehar
district of West Bengal, India.”Anals of Pharma Research, vol 4,1, pp.209-
215.,2016.

● Anonymous, “Agrochemicals in India,” Publication Division, Ministry of

Information &Broadcasting, Government of India, New Delhi, pp64. 2006.

● Mazlan, N., Mumford, J. Insecticide, “use in cabbage pest management in

the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia.” Crop Protection, vol 24, pp31-39, 2005.

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 ● Watson, William A., et al. , “Annual Report of the American Association of
Poison Control Centers Toxic Exposure Surveillance System.” American
Journal of Emergency Medicine, vol.21, 5, pp353-421,2003.

● Arora P.B. “Pesticides and Human Health,” A Resource for Health

Professionals ,pp 7,2006. [9] Reeves M., Schafer K, and Katter A. “Fields of
Poison, California farm workers and Pesticides, “California Rural Legal
Assistance Foundation,1999

● Datta C. Gupta J. and Sengupta D. “Interactions of organophosphorus

insecticides phosphamidon and Melathion on lipid profile and
acetylcholinesterase activity in human erythrocyte membrane,” Indian J Med
Res., vol.100, pp87, 1984.

● Wilkinson C.F. “Introduction and Overview, in the Effect on Human health,”

edited by S R Bakers & C R Wilkinson (Princeton Scientific Publication Co,
Inc, Princeton, NJ ,5, 1990.

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