ABSTRACT
The increasing world population with growing demands has led to a situation where protection of the environment has become a major issue and a crucial factor for the future development of the industrial and agricultural processes. Pollution of water and the environment by toxic and nonbiodegradable organic materials of industrial or agricultural origin poses serious health hazards to all the living organisms. Harmful toxic organics can be classi ed into two groups: (1) toxic organic chemicals discharged into the environment as “wastes” due to industrial activity and (2) various “useful” toxic chemicals, such as pesticides and other agrochemicals, which are necessary for improving the yield. Agricultural development, especially involving the use of arti cial fertilizers,
pesticides, growth factors, etc., causes major pollution problems [1]. Pesticides, in general, are chemically or biologically active substances, which are of anthropogenic origin, used for killing or controlling unwanted organisms. They are good slaves but bad masters owing to their toxic side effects. The pervasive use of organic chemicals like pesticides in the agricultural elds has created the need for fast, easier, and affordable methods of toxicity assessment, as these chemicals cause adverse effects in humans and other higher-order animals. It is evident that the concentration level of pesticides in water samples should be very low, and, in fact, the European community has stated that the maximum admissible concentration level for each individual pesticide should be in the range of 0.1-0.5 ng mL−1 in drinking water. Owing to their high toxicity, an important task for environmental analytical chemistry is to monitor the concentration of pesticides in waters, soil leaches, and plant and animal tissues [2].
