ABSTRACT
Contamination by soil fertilizers, veterinary drugs and pesticides is an important environmental problem caused by agroecosystem uses aiming at high-yield production. Intensive production resulted in a strong dependence on chemical fertilizers, thus failing to maintain the structure, nutrient content and biological diversity of agricultural soil necessary for long-term production. These deteriorated soils are incapable of regulating and hindering pests, and therefore, agriculture and animal husbandry rely increasingly on the use of pesticides and veterinary drugs to control diseases, pests and parasites endangering crops and livestock.
