ABSTRACT
Pesticides are the substances or mixture of substances used to prevent, destroy, or control pests that may cause harm during production, processing, storage, transport, or marketing of foods and other agricultural commodities [1,2]. The key objectives are (i) to control pests, plant diseases, and growth of organisms that could harm human activities and tree structures; (ii) to improve yield and quality of crops; and (iii) to save production costs of agricultural products [3,5]. Globally, pesticide production, distribution, and application is a billion-dollar industry, which also provides job opportunities to millions of people around the world [6,7]. However, the effects of pesticides and pesticide residues could be nonselective to pests and other living organisms, and may contaminate water bodies, affect nontarget and beneficial organisms, and persist in the environment for years. Populations are at high risk if they are exposed to direct or indirect sources of pesticides and/or pesticide residues. The entry sources could be the food and water chain. Therefore, a proper risk–benefit analysis needs to be done before using any type of pesticide.
