Trends and Perspectives in Immunosensors for Determination of Currently-Used Pesticides: The Case of Glyphosate, Organophosphates, and Neonicotinoids

Abstract

Pesticides, due to their intensive use and their peculiar chemical features, can persist in the environment and enter the trophic chain, thus representing an environmental risk for the ecosystems and human health. Although there are several robust and reliable standard analytical techniques for their monitoring, the high frequency of contamination caused by pesticides requires methods for massive monitoring campaigns that are capable of rapidly detecting these compounds in many samples of different origin. Immunosensors represent a potential tool for simple, rapid, and sensitive monitoring of pesticides. Antibodies coupled to electrochemical or optical transducers have resulted in effective detection devices. In this review, the new trends in immunosensor development and the application of immunosensors for the detection of pesticides of environmental concern—such as glyphosate, organophosphates, and neonicotinoids—are described.

Determination of Glyphosate in Water from a Rural Locality in México and Its Implications for the Population Based on Water Consumption and Use Habits

“…Thus, the ELISA method was used in this study as a rapid, cost-effective and reliable method for monitoring of glyphosate concentration in different water samples. The technique is based on a competitive assay, where glyphosate is indirectly measured by the quantification of color change produced by the enzymatic oxidation of 3,3’,5,5’-tetramethylbenzidine [ 19 , 26 ]. The change in absorbance at 450 nm was measured using a spectrophotometer Varian Cary 50, (Varian, Palo Alto, CA, USA).…”

“…It is 280 μg/L in Canada and Argentina, 1 mg/L in Australia, 0.1 μg/L in the European Union and 700 μg/L in the United States of America (USA) and China [ 18 ]. This disparity among the different countries is due to the legislation on the use of GMOs and also due to the number of hectares of soil where this herbicide is applied [ 19 ]. In Mexico, the Federal Commission for Protection Against Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS) agrees with the EPA and the European Commission, since it classifies glyphosate in group 4 as slightly toxic and non-carcinogenic and the maximum limit allowed in drinking water is 10 μg/L [ 20 ].…”

A holistic study of neonicotinoids neuroactive insecticides—properties, applications, occurrence, and analysis

“…In the beginning, the recommended doses of preparations with substances belonging to various chemical groups were lowered. For example, the recommendation for DDT and other chlorines was to use up to 1.5 kg of substance per hectare, organophosphate insecticides were effective at half that dose, and the products containing neonicotinoids are used at the doses below 20 g of substance per hectare (Michalcewicz 1995; Reynoso et al 2019; Wood and Goulson 2017).…”

Resveratrol attenuates malathion-induced liver damage by reducing oxidative stress

“…[2] Organophosphates enhance acetylcholine by inhibiting cholinesterase and hence stimulate nicotine and muscarinic receptors. [3] Malathion, a kind of organophosphate, is widely used as an insecticide and pesticide and also as a vermicide in the veterinary medicine. [4] It seems that the toxic effects of some organophosphates are not limited to cholinesterase inhibitors; however, some changes are observed due to the increase in acetylcholine, such as the damage to cell membranes, the production of free radicals, and the disturbances in the body's antioxidant system.…”