Bioremediation of pesticide-contaminated water resources: the challenge of low concentrations

•New methods enable measurement of biodegradation kinetics at low concentrations.•New model predicts extent of pesticide biodegradation under environmental scenarios.•The presence of other carbon substrates can affect pesticide biodegradation kinetics.•Dedicated procedures enable isolation of specialized oligotrophic pesticide degraders.•Microbial community activity could be manipulated to enhance pesticide biodegradation.

The use of pesticides in agricultural and urban environments has improved quality of life around the world. However, the resulting accumulation of pesticide residues in fresh water resources has negative effects on aquatic ecosystem and human health. Bioremediation has been proposed as an environmentally sound alternative for the remediation of pesticide-contaminated water resources, though full-scale implementation has thus far been limited. One major challenge that has impeded progress is the occurrence of pesticides at low concentrations. Recent research has improved our fundamental understanding of pesticide biodegradation processes occurring at low concentrations under a variety of environmental scenarios and is expected to contribute to the development of applied bioremediation strategies for pesticide-contaminated water resources.

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