The Impact of Pesticides - Academy Publish

atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation (APCI) or electrospray ionisation (ESI)are the most commonly used (Granby et al., 2004; Kruve et al., 2011).Regarding sample preparation (Chen et al., 2008; Paíga et al., 2009a, 2009b), ittraditionally involves an extraction with an organic solvent such as include matrixsolid-phase dispersion, solid-phase extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, solidphasemicroextraction, stir bar sorptive extraction and more recently the ‘quick,easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe’ (QuECheRS) method (Anastassiades et al.,2003; Wilkowska et al., 2011).Nowadays, several rapid, relatively inexpensive, sensitive screening analyticalbiosensors that need little sample pre-treatment are constantly being developed forthe identification and quantification of carbamate compounds (Caetano et al., 2008;Wu et al., 2009; Somerset et al., 2011; Van Dyk and Pletschke, 2011). Biosensorsare based on the intimate contact between a bio-recognition element that interactswith the analyte of interest and a transducer element that converts the biorecognitionevent into a measurable signal. Among the different types of biosensors,the electrochemical sensors are of special interest due to the high sensitivity inherentto the electrochemical detection and the possibility to miniaturize the requiredinstrumentation, thereby making the construction of compact and portable analysisdevices possible (Campàs et al., 2009; Somerset et al., 2011). Somerset et al. (2011)reported detection limit of 0.880 nmol/L for carbaryl, 0.249 nmol/L for carbofuranand 0.111 nmol/L for methomyl using a mercaptobenzothiazole-on-gold biosensorsystem. From the literature reviewed by Van Dyk and Pletschke (2011), the lowerdetection limits are also in the range of 0.1 nmol/L (for carbofuran, Ciucu et al.,2003) being clear that enzymatic methods, and biosensors, usually are not able toachieve the sensitivity of chromatographic methods. However, authors claimed thatthey can serve as a tool for screening of hundreds of samples in a short period oftime complementing the existing methods and allowing for a more rapid assessmentof problematic environments. Each method has unique advantages which cancomplement each other (Rodriguez-Mozaz et al., 2007; Van Dyk and Pletschke,2011).CARBAMATE BIOMARKERSBiomonitoring is defined as the repeated, controlled measurement of chemical orbiological markers in fluids, tissues or other accessible samples from subjectsexposed or exposed in the past or to be exposed to chemical, physical or biologicalrisk factors in the workplace and/or the general environment (Manno et al., 2010).Some bioindicators are commonly used since they can reflect the effect ofcontaminants on cellular metabolism and global homeostasis (Tan et al., 2011).González-Fernández et al. (2008) focused on a wide range of conventionalbiomarkers and explored a preliminary working scheme for the integration of thetriple -omic approach (transcriptomics, proteomics, and metallomics) inenvironmental monitoring. These authors found them useful and a comprehensivealternative in the study of environmental issues and the diagnosis of contaminationthreats. The expansion of omic technologies in recent years have contributed toAcademyPublish.org - The Impact of Pesticides26