Alain Hildebrandt

Impact of pesticides used in agriculture and vineyards to surface and groundwater quality (North Spain).

An environmental monitoring program was carried out to determine the impact of eight pesticides on the surface and groundwater quality of agricultural areas within the Ebro, Duero and Miño river basins. Three triazines and their desethyl degradation products, metolachlor and metalaxyl, were monitored during 18 months in 63 sites. Solid-phase extraction (SPE) using OASIS HLB 60 mg cartridges and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-EI-MS) provided good analytical quality parameters and limits of quantification of 0.01 microg/L. Environmental data were assessed using descriptive statistical analysis and multivariate data analysis with principal component analysis (PCA) to elucidate the relevant contamination patterns and provide a description of their seasonal trends, according to the pesticide application timing. Duero was the site with the highest frequency of detection and highest concentration levels, followed by the Ebro and Miño basins. The frequency of detection of the studied compounds, considering all surface and groundwater samples, was atrazine>desethylatrazine>simazine>desethylsimazine>metolachlor>desethylterbuthylazine>terbuthylazine>metalaxyl. Over all results, and taking into consideration the European Union (EU) maximum residual limit of pesticides in groundwater, only 12% of the results exceeded the 0.1 microg/L limit. However, sporadic high levels up to 2.46 mug/L in groundwater and 0.63 microg/L in surface water were detected. PCA permitted to state that Duero and Ebro river basins were especially affected by a contamination pattern dominated by atrazine, the Ebro river basin being occasionally affected by a contamination pattern dominated by simazine. Only trace levels were rarely detected in the Miño river basin. Groundwater levels were higher than surface water levels for the studied pesticides.

Development of a portable biosensor for screening neurotoxic agents in water samples.

A high sensitive portable biosensor system capable of determining the presence of neurotoxic agents in water has been developed. The system consists of (i) a screen-printed electrode with acetylcholinesterase (AChE) immobilized on it, (ii) a self-developed portable potentiostat with an analog to digital (A/D) converter and a serial interface for transferring data to a portable PC and (iii) an own designed software, developed with Lab-Windows CVI, used to record and process the measurements. The system has been developed to perform high precision amperometrical measurements with low drifts, low noise and a good reproducibility. In the configuration depicted, the percentage of AChE inhibition is proportional to the content of neurotoxic agents in a sample. This type of measurement is performed by the steady-state method from the first steady current (by a phosphate buffer solution) and the second steady current (by an enzymatic reaction produced by the addition of acetylthiocholine chloride to the solution). Validation was performed by analyzing spiked water samples containing pesticides. The design is specially suited for screening purposes, does not need sample preconcentration, is totally autonomous and suitable for the field detection of neurotoxic agents in water.