Pesticide detection goes portable

Scientists at the

(UAB) working with the

(CSIC), have developed an electro-chemical biosensor for atrazine.

The biosensor is capable of detecting in food very small amounts of atrazine, one of the most widely used herbicides in agriculture and which also has very long lasting effects on environment. It is faster, more portable and cheaper than current laboratory methods which are used to detect contaminants, while having a very similar sensitivity. The system has been tested successfully to detect pesticides in samples of drinking water and commercial orange juice, as well as to detect traces of antibiotics in cow’s milk.

The agricultural use of atrazine, and other herbicides based on a chemical substance called triazine, often causes contamination both of underground water and surface water. Food safety agencies have established control measures to prevent these pesticides entering the food chain. Similarly, antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections in domestic animals may contaminate food and be harmful for people. The European Community has established upper limits for the presence of traces of pesticides and antibiotics in food, but the control of these limits is carried out in laboratories with expensive, slow and bulky equipment.