Development of a portable biosensor for screening neurotoxic agents in water samples.

A high sensitive portable biosensor system capable of determining the presence of neurotoxic agents in water has been developed. The system consists of (i) a screen-printed electrode with acetylcholinesterase (AChE) immobilized on it, (ii) a self-developed portable potentiostat with an analog to digital (A/D) converter and a serial interface for transferring data to a portable PC and (iii) an own designed software, developed with Lab-Windows CVI, used to record and process the measurements. The system has been developed to perform high precision amperometrical measurements with low drifts, low noise and a good reproducibility. In the configuration depicted, the percentage of AChE inhibition is proportional to the content of neurotoxic agents in a sample. This type of measurement is performed by the steady-state method from the first steady current (by a phosphate buffer solution) and the second steady current (by an enzymatic reaction produced by the addition of acetylthiocholine chloride to the solution). Validation was performed by analyzing spiked water samples containing pesticides. The design is specially suited for screening purposes, does not need sample preconcentration, is totally autonomous and suitable for the field detection of neurotoxic agents in water.

[1]  Jean-Louis Marty,et al.  Immobilization of acetylcholinesterase on screen-printed electrodes: comparative study between three immobilization methods and applications to the detection of organophosphorus insecticides , 2002 .

[2]  R. Richardson,et al.  Assessment of the neurotoxic potential of chlorpyrifos relative to other organophosphorus compounds: a critical review of the literature. , 1995, Journal of toxicology and environmental health.

[3]  C. D. S. Tomlin,et al.  The pesticide manual: A World compendium. , 2009 .

[4]  W. Niessen,et al.  Trace-level determination of pesticides in water by means of liquid and gas chromatography. , 2002, Journal of chromatography. A.

[5]  Y. Picó,et al.  On-line trace-level enrichment gas chromatography of triazine herbicides, organophosphorus pesticides, and organosulfur compounds from drinking and surface waters. , 1994, The Analyst.

[6]  V. Andreou,et al.  A portable fiber-optic pesticide biosensor based on immobilized cholinesterase and sol-gel entrapped bromcresol purple for in-field use. , 2002, Biosensors & bioelectronics.

[7]  A. Avramescu,et al.  Detection of organophosphorus insecticides with immobilized acetylcholinesterase – comparative study of two enzyme sensors , 2002, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[8]  D. Andreescu,et al.  Biosensors designed for environmental and food quality control based on screen-printed graphite electrodes with different configurations , 2002, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[9]  D. Barceló,et al.  Screening of organophosphorus pesticides in environmental matrices by various gas chromatographic techniques , 1993 .

[10]  W T Bolk.  A general digital linearising method for transducers , 1985 .

[11]  J. Marty,et al.  Flow-injection amperometric determination of pesticides on the basis of their inhibition of immobilized acetylcholinesterases of different origin , 2002, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[12]  Ioannis S. Arvanitoyannis,et al.  An update of EU legislation (Directives and Regulations) on food‐related issues (Safety, Hygiene, Packaging, Technology, GMOs, Additives, Radiation, Labelling): presentation and comments , 2005 .

[13]  Danila Moscone,et al.  Fast, sensitive and cost-effective detection of nerve agents in the gas phase using a portable instrument and an electrochemical biosensor , 2007, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[14]  D. Barceló,et al.  Improvements in the determination of organophosphorus pesticides in ground- and wastewater samples from interlaboratory studies by automated on-line liquid-solid extraction followed by liquid chromatography-diode array detection , 1996 .

[15]  Arben Merkoçi,et al.  Pesticide determination in tap water and juice samples using disposable amperometric biosensors made using thick-film technology , 2001 .

[16]  M. Hennion,et al.  Determination of pesticides in environmental waters by automated on-line trace-enrichment and liquid chromatography , 1994 .

[17]  E. Ballesteros,et al.  Continuous solid-phase extraction and gas chromatographic determination of organophosphorus pesticides in natural and drinking waters. , 2004, Journal of chromatography. A.

[18]  M. Maroni,et al.  The WHO-UNDP epidemiological study on the health effects of exposure to organophosphorus pesticides. , 1986, Toxicology letters.

[19]  Danila Moscone,et al.  Detection of carbamic and organophosphorous pesticides in water samples using a cholinesterase biosensor based on Prussian Blue-modified screen-printed electrode. , 2006, Analytica chimica acta.

[20]  D. Barceló,et al.  Analysis of pesticides in water by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric techniques. , 2006, Mass spectrometry reviews.