Abstract
The constant industrial and agricultural development associated with population growth has provoked severe environmental contamination, increasing public authority's and society's awareness for a more sustainable way of life. Pesticides, whose levels in water bodies have increased due to agricultural evolution, are among the priority pollutants to be removed from aqueous streams. Besides being reported as endocrine-disrupting compounds, these substances are associated with cardiovascular, hepatic, ophthalmic diseases, besides anemia and cancers. In this context, pesticide-contaminated waters must undergo treatment before being discharged into natural waterways. For this purpose, many conventional and advanced treatment processes have been investigated. Each has its characteristics in terms of efficiency, operability, reliability, pre-treatment requirements, environmental impacts, sludge and by-products formation, CAPEX, and OPEX. The biological treatment is usually the most economical option; however, biodegradation of pesticides depends on many aspects of the pesticide (concentration and chemical structure) and bioreactor operating conditions (hydraulic and solids retention times, process configuration, pH, and presence of inhibitors). This chapter presents and discusses the possibilities and challenges for the treatment of wastewater contaminated with pesticides through aerobic and anaerobic biological methods. A brief explanation of the main biological processes used to treat pesticide-containing waste streams is provided, followed by the pathways involved in aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation of these compounds. In the end, specific studies on pesticide removal from aqueous matrices by biological means conducted at different experimental conditions are discussed. Complementary processes, used as pre or post-treatment, and a comparative analysis of the available options, were also addressed.
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