Simultaneous determination of selected herbicides in dam lake, river and well water samples by gas chromatography mass spectrometry after vortex assisted binary solvent liquid phase microextraction

Bifenox induces hepatotoxicity and vascular toxicity in zebrafish embryos via ROS production and alterations in signaling pathways

Existing evidence shows that currently used pesticides pose toxicological risks to exposed wildlife. Chemically, bifenox belongs to diphenyl ethers, a well-known group of herbicides. Its mechanism of action primarily involves inducing lipid peroxidation and blocking protoporphyrinogen oxidases. Toxicity of diphenyl ether herbicides has been elucidated in animal cells; however, in vivo toxicological evaluations of bifenox are required to determine its unexpected effects. This study aimed to determine the negative effects of bifenox, and its effects on higher eukaryotes. We found that early stages of zebrafish embryo exposed to bifenox demonstrated increased mortality and physiological defects, based on the LC50 value. Bifenox severely inhibited blood vessel growth by reducing key elements of complex connectivity; fluorescently tagged transgenic lines (fli1a:EGFP) showed morphological changes. Additionally, transgenic lines that selectively identified hepatocytes (fabp10a:DsRed) showed reduced fluorescence, indicating that bifenox may inhibit liver development. To evaluate the level of oxidative stress, we used 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) probes in zebrafish embryos to identify the underlying mechanisms causing developmental damage. Our findings demonstrate that exposure to bifenox causes abnormalities in the hepatic and cardiovascular systems during zebrafish embryogenesis. Therefore, this study provides new information for the evaluation of toxicological risks of bifenox in vertebrates.

COF-300-AR@CRL as a two-in-one nanocatalyst for one-step chemiluminescent detection of diphenyl ether herbicide residues in vegetable and fruit samples

A sensitive and accurate chemiluminescence (CL) method was developed for one-step determination of diphenyl ether herbicides at trace level with nitrofen (2,4-dichlorophenyl-p-nitrophenyl ether) as a model analyte. Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) was immobilized on a nanocarrier of amine-linked covalent organic framework (named as COF-300-AR) through a self-assembly strategy. The formed nanocomposite of COF-300-AR@CRL owns dual enzymatic catalytic activities. It can directly catalyze luminol-dissolved oxygen reaction to produce an intense CL emission by virtue of oxidase mimic activity of COF-300-AR but also effectively decompose nitrofen to release phenolic compounds by the immobilized CRL. The released phenolic compounds own strong reducing capacity and in turn decrease the CL signal sharply. Under the optimal conditions, the decreased CL intensity presents a good linear response to nitrofen concentration in the 0.02-50.0 μM range. The limit of detection (LOD, 3sb/S) is 11 nM and the precision is 2.0% for replicate measurements of 50.0 nM nitrofen solution (n = 11). This method has the advantages of rapid analytical efficiency, good selectivity, satisfactory stability, and recyclability. Recovery experiments were conducted on spiked vegetable and fruit samples with the recoveries falling in the range 90.0-107.0%.

Performance analysis of three distinct NixV2Oy single-phase nano self-assemblies for asymmetric supercapacitor fabrication and effective detection of low-concentration hazardous herbicide

Single-phase inorganic nanostructures with multiple applications are required for cost-effective, sustainable applications to save the environment from toxic activities. Nickel vanadate (NixV2Oy), possessing three phases, such as NiV2O6, Ni2V2O7, and Ni3V2O8, acts as an effective electrode material and potential electrochemical sensors. Nickel vanadate phases (NiV2O6, Ni2V2O7, and Ni3V2O8) were synthesized through the gel-matrix technique, and their phase purity, crystallinity, morphology, optical properties, etc., were evaluated and studied. Electrochemical studies infer that NiV2O6 exhibits the highest specific capacity of 251 C g-1 (69.7 mA h g-1) at 1 A g-1 compared to the other nickel vanadate phases and provides better cyclic stability of 80.19% for 5000 cycles. The asymmetric supercapacitor device fabricated from NiV2O6 results in a specific capacity of 189 C g-1 (52.5 mA h g-1), energy density of 59.06 W h kg-1, and a power density of 1125 W kg-1 with a capacitive retention rate of 74.91% and coulombic efficiency of 99.61% for 10 000 cycles. The electrochemical detection potential of NixV2Oy in bifenox herbicide has been studied with all the synthesized nanostructures. Among them, NiV2O6-based sensor probes demonstrated excellent characteristics, including high sensing current and low detection limits of 0.6 nM with a linear range of 1-57 nM. The real-time herbicide detection of NiV2O6 in live samples was checked with freshly harvested potatoes. This advancement further enhances the utilization of NixV2Oy materials for electrochemical applications.

Study of the degradation of diphenyl-ether herbicides aclonifen and bifenox in different environmental waters

The degradation of the diphenyl-ether herbicides aclonifen (ACL) and bifenox (BF) in water samples has been studied under different laboratory conditions, using in-tube solid-phase microextraction (IT-SPME) coupled to capillary liquid chromatography (capLC). The working conditions were selected in order to detect also bifenox acid (BFA), a compound formed as a result of the hydroxylation of BF. Samples (4 mL) were processed without any previous treatment, which allowed the detection of the herbicides at low ppt levels. The effects of temperature, light and pH on the degradation of ACL and BF have been tested using standard solutions prepared in nanopure water. The effect of the sample matrix has been evaluated by analysing different environmental waters spiked with the herbicides, namely ditch water, river water and seawater. The kinetics of the degradation have been studied and the half-life times (t_1/2) have been calculated. The results obtained have demonstrated that the sample matrix is the most important parameter affecting the degradation of the tested herbicides. The degradation of both ACL and BF was much faster in ditch and river water samples, where t_1/2 values of only a few days were observed. However, both compounds showed a better stability in seawater samples, where they can persist for several months. In all matrices ACL was found to be more stable than BF. In samples where BF had been substantially degraded, BFA was also detected, although the stability of this compound was also limited. Other degradation products have been detected along the study.

Hapten synthesis and a colloidal gold immunochromatographic strip assay to detect nitrofen and bifenox in fruits

In this study, we synthesized two haptens similar in structure to nitrofen (NIT), and screened out five monoclonal antibodies with the ability to recognize NIT and bifenox (BIF) by competitive ELISA, with the lowest IC₅₀ values of 0.87 ng mL^-1 and 0.86 ng mL^-1, respectively. The antibody 5G7 was selected to be combined with colloidal gold to establish a lateral flow immunochromatographic assay strip. This method was shown to qualitatively and quantitatively detect the residues of NIT and BIF in fruit samples. The visual limits of detection for qualitative detection were 5 μg kg^-1 and 10 μg kg^-1 for NIT and BIF, respectively. The calculated limits of detection for quantitative detection were 0.75 μg kg^-1, 1.77 μg kg^-1 and 2.55 μg kg^-1 respectively, for nitrofen in orange, apple and grapes, and 3.54 μg kg^-1, 4.96 μg kg^-1 and 5.26 μg kg^-1, respectively, for bifenox. Thus the strip assay could be used for rapid analysis of fruit samples.

Accurate and sensitive determination of Sb(III) in water samples using UV-VIS spectrophotometry after simultaneous complexation and preconcentration with deep eutectic solvent/DTZ probe-based liquid-liquid microextraction

This study describes the determination of trace levels of antimony(III) by UV-Vis spectrophotometer after preconcentration by the deep eutectic solvent/dithizone probe-based liquid-liquid microextraction method. Ditizone was used as a ligand to form the coordinated antimony complex before extraction in the preconcentration process. In the microextraction method developed in the study, deep eutectic solvent was used to dissolve the complexing agent; thus, the complexation was performed at the same time as the extraction of antimony complex by deep eutectic solvent. All variables likely to affect the ligand-antimony(III) complex, extraction efficiency, and spectroscopic measurement were optimized to lower the detection limit. Under the determined optimum conditions, the detection limit for Sb was calculated as 1.6 × 10^-3 mg/L. The detection limit obtained with the method is much lower than the value obtained in the Uv-Vis spectrophotometer with the traditional method. In this study, the percent relative standard deviation for the lowest concentration was calculated as 3.12% (n = 8). This value indicates that the analysis performed has high precision. The applicability of the method was determined by performing spiked recovery tests on tap water taken from different regions. Satisfactory recovery results were obtained between 91 and 105% at three different concentrations.

Synthesis and application of new silver and sulfur decorated S-doped reduced graphene oxide in ultra-trace analysis of pesticides by ion mobility spectrometry

In this research study, a novel, facile, and affordable method is presented for the synthesis of a Ag/S/S-RGO nanocomposite. The resulting new nanocomposite was identified by FT-IR, XRD, FESEM, XPS, BET and EDX and employed as a rapid and effective adsorbent with acceptable absorption capacity for the analysis of various pesticides by dispersive solid-phase microextraction combined with ion mobility spectrometry. The main experimental parameters of the method were optimized such as the type of desorption solvent, pH of the sample solution, type of buffer, amount of the sorbent (Ag/S/S-RGO), sorption/desorption time, etc. Under the optimized conditions, linear dynamic ranges of 0.5-110.0, 1.0-110.0, and 0.8-90.0 ng mL^-1 were achieved, with limits of detection of 0.25, 0.35, and 0.25 ng mL^-1 for simazine, alachlor, and haloxyfop, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSD%) were obtained as <5.0%. Eventually, the method was utilized for the simultaneous determination of simazine, alachlor, and haloxyfop in environmental and agricultural samples with recoveries between 95.0 and 104.6%.

Biomimetic self-assembly of lipase-zeolitic imidazolate frameworks with enhanced biosensing of protox inhibiting herbicides

Protox inhibiting herbicides such as nitrofen have detrimental effects on the environment and human health. The current work aims to fabricate a Candida rugosa lipase (CRL)-based electrochemical sensor for rapid and sensitive detection of protox inhibiting herbicides (nitrofen). We proposed the use of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) and amino-acids to promote accumulation of Zn²⁺ ions at the surfaces of Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) and subsequently induce self-assembly of a CRL-zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) structure. This process can be easily and rapidly achieved via a one-pot facile self-assembly method. Steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy indicated that CRL has undergone a conformational change following encapsulation within the ZIF structure. This conformational change is beneficial as the prepared PVP/Glu/CRL@ZIF-8 exhibited enhanced catalytic activity (207% of native CRL), and higher substrate affinity (lower K_m than native CRL) and showed high stability under harsh denaturing conditions. PVP/Glu/CRL@ZIF-8 was finally used for electrochemical biosensing of nitrofen. The fabricated biosensor has a wide linear detection range (0-100 μM), a lower limit of detection and a good recovery rate.

Analytical methods to analyze pesticides and herbicides

This paper reviews studies published in 2019, in the area of analytical techniques for determination of pesticides and herbicides. It should be noted that some of the reports summarized in this review are not directly related to but could potentially be used for water environment studies. Based on different methods, the literatures are organized into six sections, namely extraction methods, electrochemical techniques, spectrophotometric techniques, chemiluminescence and fluorescence methods, chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques, and biochemical assays. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Totally 141 research articles have been summarized. The review is divided into six parts. Chromatographic and mass spectrometric techniques are the most widely used methods.

A novel and rapid extraction protocol for sensitive and accurate determination of prochloraz in orange juice samples: Vortex-assisted spraying-based fine droplet formation liquid-phase microextraction before gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A novel, ecofriendly, and easy extraction and preconcentration method named as vortex-assisted spraying-based fine droplet formation liquid-phase microextraction was proposed for the determination of prochloraz at trace levels in orange juice samples by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In this novel system, extraction solvent is dispersed by the help of spraying apparatus instead of dispersive solvent. Various parameters of the method were carefully optimized to increase signal-to-noise ratio of the analyte. Under the optimum chromatographic and extraction conditions, limit of detection and limit of quantification were calculated as 3.2 and 10.8 μg/kg, respectively. Moreover, enhancement in quantification power for the GC-MS system was determined as 372 folds based on LOQ comparison. Relative recovery results for orange juice samples were found to be between 95.0-107.7% by utilizing matrix matching calibration. Furthermore, the developed method may be used to efficiently and simply extract other organic compounds for their determinations in several matrices.

Red-emissive nitrogen doped carbon quantum dots for highly selective and sensitive fluorescence detection of the alachlor herbicide in soil samples

We report the synthesis of red-emissive nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dots and their applications in the highly selective and sensitive detection of the alachlor herbicide in soil samples.