ABSTRACT
The continuous and exponential growth of world population is concurrent with higher demands for more and better food and fiber products. In modern agriculture, application of biocides has been introduced as one of the tools that favor the achievement of the vital increases and quality improvement of productions, which are basic necessities for human life and development. Initially, these chemicals were thought to be only harmful for a target group such as insects, fungi, nematodes or weed species, but innocuous for humans; however this statement is not always true. Biocides have proved to be beneficial to control plagues and diseases, but their residues contaminate soils and natural water reservoirs. For that reason, they constitute a serious risk for human health and environmental quality.
