ABSTRACT
Pesticides have become an integral part of farming practices. In the last few decades, there has been an increase in apprehension about the impacts of pesticides on the environment and human health. In global agriculture, endosulfan is commonly used as a pesticide (insecticide and acaricide). Commercially endosulfan is an organochlorine (OC) manufactured insecticide which is the combination of two isomers consisting of around 70% and 30% of α- and β-Endosulfan, respectively. According to the literature, it is widely used on cashews, cotton, tea, paddy, fruits, and tobacco for controlling pests and worms. Due to its intensive use, its presence has been detected in the atmosphere, soil, food products, and different water bodies. Residues of this pesticide are a threat to humans and wildlife by causing long-term chronic and acute health effects. Around the same time, endosulfan has been linked with multiple instances of environmental degradation and different forms of permanent metabolic disorders in terrestrial and aquatic beings. Realizing the gravity of the recuperations of endosulfan use, there has been a conscious effort to find the solution to the problem and different endosulfan remediation methods have been explored and studied with the sole aim of its efficient clean-up from the environment. Therefore, it is required to find a solution to this problem based on biological and biochemical means to detoxify the pesticide accumulation effect in the soil and water environment. Bioremediation is an environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and efficient method for the degradation of endosulfan. The primary mechanism and time for endosulfan degradation in the soil depend on the type of isomer, environmental parameters such as pH, type of soil, and moisture content. This chapter discusses the endosulfan degradation mechanism and its remediation by bacterial and fungal bioremediation, along with phytoremediation. It will give insight into the development of bioremediation strategies for the degradation of endosulfan in the environment.
