Occurrence and Toxicity of Organic Microcontaminants in Agricultural Perspective: An Overview

Organic micro-pollutants (OMPs) are an increasing global concern that contaminate important environmental matrices. The OMPs in agriculture include di-(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP), nonylphenol (NP), nonylphenol mono-ethoxylate (NP1EO), and diethoxylates (NP2EO), polychlorinated biphenyl congeners (PCB), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and linear alkyl benzene sulphonates (LAS), microplastic (styrene-based polymer, polyesters, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) (like DDT, heptachlor, and aldrin), flunixin (veterinary drug), herbicides (Diuron, mecoprop, 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid), and terbuthylazine (pesticides). OMPs enter the soil-water ecosystem via a variety of routes, including irrigation water in agricultural settings, the discharge of expired pharmaceuticals, the use of biosolids or animal excreta, sewage effluent, and industrial operations, among others. Furthermore, OMPs enter the food chain via a variety of pathways, including groundwater, agricultural soil, and irrigated water. All of these contaminants’ final host is soil, where soil microbes break them down biologically. Adding chemicals can speed up the process, but using physical methods to remove OMPs is expensive. These OMPs disrupt different soil biogeochemical processes, harm soil quality and microbial diversity, and cause genetic alterations in the microbial ecology. The persistence of the OMP raises the risk to human health as it moves up the food chain. Limitations on the release of new OMPs into the environment are not yet available to developing nations. This needs to be taken into consideration to establish limitations based on scientific evidence. This chapter focuses on the prevalence and concentration patterns of organic micro-pollutants (OMPs) in agricultural fields, as well as their routes of transfer to agricultural land and associated control measures.