Monoclonal antibody-based immunosensor for the electrochemical detection of chlortoluron herbicide in groundwaters

Anaïs Surribas (1, 2) , Lise Barthelmebs (1, 2) , Thierry Noguer (1, 2)

1 BAE - Biocapteurs-Analyses-Environnement
2 LBBM - Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Biotechnologies Microbiennes

Chlortoluron (3-(3-chloro-p-tolyl)-1,1-dimethyl urea) is a herbicide widely used in substitution to isoproturon to control grass weed in wheat and barley crops. Chlortoluron has been detected in groundwaters for more than 20 years, and dramatic increases in concentrations are observed after intense rain outbreaks. In this context, we have developed an immunosensor for the determination of chlortoluron based on competitive binding of specific monoclonal antibodies on chlortoluron and immobilized biotinylated chlortoluron, followed by electrochemical detection on screen-printed carbon electrodes. The optimized immunosensor exhibited a logarithmic response in the range 0.01-10 µg.L-1 , with a calculated detection limit (LOD) of 22.4 ng.L-1 , which is below the maximum levels allowed by the legislation (0.1 µg.L-1). The immunosensor was used for the determination of chlortoluron in natural groundwaters, showing the absence of matrix effects.

Keywords: Chlortoluron; Immunosensor; Screen-printed electrodes; Competitive detection; Chronoamperometry; Chlortoluron

Domains: Chemical Sciences; Analytical chemistry; Environmental Sciences; Environmental Engineering

Anaïs Surribas, Lise Barthelmebs, Thierry Noguer. Monoclonal antibody-based immunosensor for the electrochemical detection of chlortoluron herbicide in groundwaters. Biosensors, 2021, 11 (12), pp.513. ⟨10.3390/bios11120513⟩. ⟨hal-03866915⟩