Harnessing the power of biosensors for environmental monitoring of pesticides in water

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology (2025) 109:92 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-025-13461-x MINI-REVIEW Harnessing the power of biosensors for environmental monitoring of pesticides in water Filipa Mendes1 · Beatriz O. Machado1 · Bruno B. Castro1,2 · Maria João Sousa1 · Susana R. Chaves1 Received: 29 December 2024 / Revised: 17 March 2025 / Accepted: 18 March 2025 © The Author(s) 2025 Abstract The current strong reliance on synthetic chemicals, namely pesticides, is far from environmentally sustainable. These xenobiotics contribute significantly to global change and to the current biodiversity crisis, but have been overlooked when compared to other agents (e.g., climate change). Aquatic ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to pesticides, making monitoring programs essential to preserve ecosystem health, safeguard biodiversity, ensure water quality, and mitigate potential human health risks associated with contaminated water sources. Biosensors show great potential as time/cost-effective and disposable systems for the high-throughput detection (and quantification) of these pollutants. In this mini-review, we provide an overview of biosensors specifically developed for environmental water monitoring, covering different pesticide classes (and active ingredients), and types of biosensors (according to the bio-recognition element) and transducers, as well as the nature of sample matrices analyzed. We highlight the variety of biosensors that have been developed and successfully applied to detection of pesticides in aqueous samples, including enzymatic biosensors, immunosensors, aptasensors, and whole cell–based biosensors. While most biosensors have been designed to detect insecticides, expanding their compound target range could significantly streamline monitoring of environmental contaminants. Despite limitations related to stability, reproducibility, and interference from environmental factors, biosensors represent a promising and sustainable technology for pesticide monitoring in the aquatic environments, offering sensitivity and specificity, as well as portability and real-time results. We propose that biosensors would be most effective as an initial screening step in a tiered assessment, complementing conventional methods. Key points • Pesticides harm aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity, requiring better monitoring • Biosensors offer cost-effective solutions to detect pesticides in water samples • Biosensors complement conventional methods as a sustainable tool for initial screens Keywords Pesticides · Aquatic ecosystems · Biosensors · Environmental monitoring · Water quality Introduction * Susana R. Chaves 1 Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA) & Aquatic Research Network (ARNET), Department of Biology, School of Sciences of the University of Minho, 4710‑057 Braga, Portugal 2 Institute of Science and Innovation for Bio‑Sustainability (IB‑S), School of Sciences of the University of Minho, 4710‑057 Braga, Portugal Pesticides are substances or biological agents (e.g., Bacillus thuringiensis (Angus 1953)), intentionally released into the environment to prevent, control, or destroy pests and diseases. They can be classified according to origin (natural or synthetic) and composition (inorganic or organic), but are most frequently functionally categorized according to their target organism into insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, bactericides, rodenticides, nematicides, and algicides (Mahmood et al. 2016). Pesticides are employed in agriculture to increase crop yields and, consequently, food production. They are also used in public health protection programs to prevent illnesses transmitted by vectors, such Vol.:(0123456789) 92 Page 2 of 16 as malaria, dengue fever, and schistosomiasis. Additionally, pesticides are applied to improve and maintain nonagricultural areas, including public urban green spaces and sports fields (Sarwar 2015; Nishant and Upadhyay 2016). However, the current strong reliance on pesticides is far from environmentally sustainable, and thus public concerns about their detrimental effects on ecosystems and human health have increased. Pesticides enter the environment when applied to a target area or when they are disposed of. Once released, the environmental fate of these chemicals can be affected by many factors, such as the properties of the soil (hydraulic loading, organic matter content, particle size distribution) and the intrinsic properties of the pesticide, namely its half-life, water solubility, adsorption coefficient, and volatility (Gavrilescu 2005; Kerle et al. 1994). Pesticides can also move from target sites to other areas through leaching, adsorption, spray drift, volatilization, and runoff, thereby migrating across soil, air, and groundwater (de Araújo et al. 2020; Dad et al. 2022). Indeed, it is estimated that only 0.1% of applied pesticides reach their target site, while the main portion is lost via spray drift, run-off, and accumulation in off-target sites (Parween et al. 2016). Apart from highly inefficient, pesticide application ultimately leads to accumulation of pesticide residues in the atmosphere, soil, water, and biota. Aquatic ecosystems are the main sink for these residues, and aquatic life is particularly vulnerable to their effects (Stehle and Schulz 2015a; de Souza et al. 2020; Rumschlag et al. 2020). The vulnerability of aquatic ecosystems to pesticide pollution is explicitly recognized in the Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009, which establishes a framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides. Overall, it has been demonstrated that the negative impact of pesticides on non-target aquatic organisms ultimately affects biodiversity (Malaj et al. 2014; Brühl and Zaller 2019). Along with other synthetic chemicals, pesticides are important agents of global change (Bernhardt et al. 2017), but may have been overlooked as drivers of biodiversity loss when compared to others (Bernhardt et al. 2017; Sigmund et al. 2023). Therefore, the current risk assessment framework for pesticides in aquatic environments would greatly benefit from expanded monitoring programs, an invaluable tool to preserve ecosystem health, safeguard biodiversity, ensure water quality, and mitigate potential human health risks associated with contaminated water sources. Continuous and high-throughput monitoring enables timely interventions when levels surpass acceptable limits, while longterm monitoring provides crucial data to identify trends in pesticide contamination, recognize emerging concerns, and evaluate the efficacy of management practices and regulatory measures. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology (2025) 109:92 Given the widespread presence of pesticides in surface (Stehle and Schulz 2015b; Lundqvist et al. 2019; KrućFijałkowska et al. 2022; Laicher et al. 2022; Monticelli Barizon et al. 2022; Chow et al. 2023) and ground (Gonça (...truncated)