Selective magnetic solid-phase extraction of amide herbicides from fish samples coupled with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

A highly efficient and selective rapid detection method applied to the detection of amide herbicides in fish serum

Misuse of amide herbicides in the fisheries environment can pose unpredictable harm to aquatic products and ultimately human health. Thus, the development of a real-time, rapid on-site detection method is crucial. This study proposes for the first time, a paper-based visual detection method for amide herbicides in fish serum, by coating the molecularly imprinted polymer layer onto quantum dots, prepared fluorescent sensing materials (QDs@MIPs) for the detection of amide herbicides in aquatic products. These materials specifically cause fluorescence quenching in the presence of amide herbicides resulting in a color change. For practical application, this research designed a rapid test strip based on QDs@MIPs, meanwhile, incorporate a smartphone or a fluorescence spectrophotometer for qualitative and quantitative measurements, the limit of detection ranges of 0.061-0.500 μM. The method can be used for on-site evaluation of aquatic products, providing new technology for monitoring the safety of aquatic products.

Using Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Technology for Determination of Fish Serum Glucose Levels

In this study, a highly efficient magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer nanocomposite material was prepared using multi-walled carbon nanotubes as carriers. The characterization of the obtained nanocomposite material was conducted using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, a vibrating sample magnetometer, a thermogravimetric analyzer, a scanning electron microscope, and a transmission electron microscope. The adsorption properties of the nanocomposite material were evaluated through adsorption experiments, including static adsorption, dynamic adsorption, and selective recognition studies. The prepared nanocomposite material, serving as a selective adsorbent, was applied in magnetic solid-phase extraction. Subsequently, the derivatized samples were analyzed for glucose in fish serum using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Under optimal conditions, the detection limit was 0.30 ng/mL, the quantitation limit was 0.99 ng/mL, satisfactory spiked recovery rates were obtained, and the relative standard deviation was less than 1.1%. Using 2-deoxy-D-ribose as the template molecule and a structural analog of glucose allowed us to eliminate the potential template leakage in qualitative and quantitative analyses, effectively avoiding the issues of false positives and potential quantitative errors, compared to traditional methods. A method for detecting glucose levels in fish serum based on molecularly imprinted polymer technology has been successfully developed to determine the stress and health levels of fish.

A Sensitive and Specific Monoclonal Antibody Based Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for the Rapid Detection of Pretilachlor in Grains and the Environment

Pretilachlor is a chloroacetamide herbicide mainly used for weed and broadleaf weed control in rice, that is widely utilized in China. In order to detect the residue of pretilachlor in the environment and food, a highly sensitive and specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) against pretilachlor was prepared, and the half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the monoclonal antibody was validated to be 31.47 ± 2.35 μg/L. An indirect competitive ELISA (ic-ELISA) based on the antibody with a linear range of 6.25~100 μg/L was developed. The specificity of the antibody was explained by computer simulations and experimental validation. The mAb exhibited negligible cross-reactivity towards alachlor, acetochlor, propisochlor, butachlor, and metalaxyl, and the limits of detection (LOD) for pretilachlor in lake, rice, and soil samples were 4.83~5.23 μg/L. The recoveries of all samples were 78.3~91.3%. The reliability of the ic-ELISA method for residue detection of pretilachlor in the environment and grains was confirmed using high performance liquid chromatography.

Amide herbicides: Analysis of their environmental fate, combined plant-microorganism soil remediation scheme, and risk prevention and control strategies for sensitive populations

In this study, we predicted the environmental fate of amide herbicides (AHs) using the EQC (EQuilibrium Criterion) model. We found that the soil phase is the main reservoir of AHs in the environment. Second, a toxicokinetic prediction indicated that butachlor have a low human health risk, while the alachlor, acetochlor, metolachlor, napropamide, and propanil are all uncertain. To address the environmental and human-health-related threats posed by AHs, 27 new proteins/enzymes that easily absorb, degrade, and mineralize AHs were designed. Compared with the target protein/enzyme, the comprehensive evaluation value of the new proteins/enzymes increased significantly: the absorption protein increased by 20.29-113.49%; the degradation enzyme increased by 151.26-425.22%; and the mineralization enzyme increased by 23.70-52.16%. Further experiments revealed that the remediating effect of 13 new proteins/enzymes could be significantly enhanced to facilitate their applicability under real environmental conditions. The hydrophobic interactions, van der Waals forces, and polar solvation are the key factors influencing plant-microorganism remediation. Finally, the simulations revealed that appropriate consumption of kiwifruit or simultaneous consumption of ginseng, carrot, and spinach, and avoiding the simultaneous consumption of maize and carrot/spinach are the most effective means reduce the risk of exhibiting AH-linked toxicity.

Development of a MOF-based SPE method combined with GC-MS for simultaneous determination of alachlor, acetochlor and pretilachlor in field soil

In this work, a rapid, highly selective, reusable and effective method was developed for simultaneous determination of alachlor, acetochlor and pretilachlor in field soil by GC-MS coupled with MIL-101 based SPE. Main factors affecting the SPE by using MIL-101 were optimized. Moreover, by comparing with the other commercial materials such as C₁₈, PSA and Florisil, the MIL-101(Cr) exhibited excellent adsorption performance, which aimed at amide herbicides. On the other hand, method validation displayed excellent method performance, achieving good linearities with r² ≥ 0.9921, limits of detection between 0.25-0.45 μg kg^-1, enrichment factors ≥ 89, matrix effect in the range of ± 20%, recoveries between 86.3% and 102.4%, and RSD lower than 4.38%. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of amide herbicides in soil taken from the wheat, corn and soybean field at different depths, where the concentration of alachlor, acetochlor and pretilachlor were in the range of 0.62-8.04 μg kg^-1. It was demonstrated that the more depth of soil, the lower of three amide herbicides. This finding could be proposed a novel method to detect the amide herbicides in the agriculture and food industry.

Occurrence and risk assessment of three chloroamide herbicides in water and soil environment in northeastern, eastern and southern China

Chloroamide herbicides can cause adverse effects on nontarget organisms, but there is limited information about their occurrence in the environment of major cropland growing regions. In this study, a total of 1012 soil samples, 617 surface water samples and 737 groundwater samples were collected from 2020 to 2021 in three regions of China to evaluate the occurrence and risk of three important chloroamide herbicides alachlor, acetochlor and butachlor using the improved QuEChERS extraction method and high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that residues of the three chloroamide compounds in surface water and groundwater ranged from 0.1 to 176.0 μg L^-1, of which acetochlor was frequently detected from surface water (17.5%). As for the soil, mass fraction was varied between 1.0 and 1540.3 μg kg^-1, similarly acetochlor had the highest detection frequency (49.6%). Timewise, the median mass fraction of selected chloroamide herbicides in soil in 2021 (7.8 μg kg^-1) was significantly lower than that in 2020 (10.9 μg kg^-1). Spatially, there were regional differences in the content of environmental residues, and the overall level of residues in the northeast was relatively high. The environmental risk assessment based on the improved Risk Quotient (RQ) method indicated that the selected herbicides were currently within an acceptable range for human health risks in the soil and water environment in various regions, but acetochlor and butachlor had contributed to the RQ values of fish and earthworms (0.01＜RQ＜0.1) in recent years, respectively, which might pose a certain risk of oral exposure to aquatic and terrestrial organisms. This study provides valuable data and ideas for the rational application, pollution control and environmental safety evaluation of chloroamide herbicides in China.

Cellular toxicity and pharmacokinetic study of butachlor by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry based on tandem mass spectrometry cubed technique

Butachlor is an aromatic amide compound that plays a role as a herbicide, a xenobiotic, and an environmental contaminant. The aim of this work was to develop a highly selective and sensitive ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method based on the tandem mass spectrometry cubed technique to determine butachlor in a biological matrix. Butachlor and internal standard acetochlor were separated on a Waters Acquity ultra-performance liquid chromatography BEH C₁₈ column (2.1 × 50 mm, 1.7 μm) with gradient elution using 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution (A) and acetonitrile (B) as mobile phases. The transitions selected for tandem mass spectrometry cubed quantitative analysis in positive ion mode were: for butachlor, mass-to-charge ratio 312.2→238.1→162.1; for acetochlor, mass-to-charge ratio 270.1→224.0→148.1. The total running time for each sample was 5.5 min. The ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry cubed method showed a linear relationship (R² ≥ 0.995) in the concentration range of 0.5-100 ng/ml. The intra and interday accuracies are within the range of -10.6%-4.3% and precisions are between 4.48% and 13.14%. The novelty of the method is the use of tandem mass spectrometry cubed scanning mode, which improves selectivity and sensitivity. The results indicated that butachlor was cellular toxic. The safety of butachlor should be considered when it is used as a herbicide.