**5. Conclusion**

In the search for high productivity, the use of pesticides has been intensified in agricultural crops. Also, the indiscriminate use of these substances has reached non-target organisms, causing deleterious effects on biodiversity, especially in the aquatic ecosystem.

To mitigate these impacts, several methodologies have been used to detect exposure to these toxic substances in aquatic environments. Among them, the methodologies that aim to evaluate the exposed organism at the biochemical and genetic level, as described in this review, show efficiency. It allows the early identification of the presence of the contaminant even before it causes significant changes in the health of the exposed individual, as well as before higher levels of biological organization are reached. It is worth mentioning that the pesticides present in aquatic ecosystems can accumulate in high concentrations in the organisms throughout the trophic level reaching the human being.

Monitoring and controlling the presence of these substances in the environment is necessary since these compounds have become a human and environmental health problem. Allied to this, there is a need for more incentives for the adoption of sustainable agroecological practices, as well as the prohibition of harmful active ingredients to the environment, added to the strict inspection by competent environmental agencies.
