Monitoring human exposure to pesticides using immunoassay

Immunoassays offer selective, sensitive and low-cost tools for the assessment of pesticide exposure through the measurement of parent compounds or key metabolites in biological fluids such as urine, blood or saliva. Recently conducted biomonitoring studies for paraquat and atrazine illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of the immunochemical approach. Development for improved assay throughput and sensitivity includes substitution of enzyme labels with fluorescent nanoparticle probes or luminescent acridinium labels together with the use of automated immunoanalyzers, immunosensors or microchips with flow-through systems.