Investigation of the Potential of Near Infrared Spectroscopy for the Detection and Quantification of Pesticides in Aqueous Solution

Aoife A. Gowen, Yutaro Tsuchisaka, Colm O’Donnell, Roumiana Tsenkova

.

DOI: 10.4236/ajac.2011.228124                

Abstract

This research investigates the potential of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for the detection and quantification of pesticides in aqueous solution. Standard solutions of Alachlor and Atrazine (ranging in concentration from 1.25 - 100 ppm) were prepared by dilution in a Methanol/water solvent (1:1 methanol/water (v/v)). Near infrared transmission spectra were obtained in the wavelength region 400 - 2500 nm; however, the wavelength regions below 1300 nm and above 1900 nm were omitted in subsequent analysis due to the poor signal repeatability in these regions. Partial least squares analysis was applied for discrimination between pesticide and solvent and for prediction of pesticide concentration. Limits of detection of 12.6 ppm for Alachlor and 46.4 ppm for Atrazine were obtained.

Keywords

Pesticide, Aquaphotomics, Nearinfrared

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Technologies and Techniques for Early Warning Systems to Monitor and Evaluate Drinking Water Quality: A State-of-the-Art Review. (EPA/600/R-05/156). Office of Re-search and Development National Homeland Security Research Center, US Environmental Protection Agency.
[2]	A. Gowen, R. Tsenkova, M. Bruen and C. O’Donnell, “Vibrational Spec-troscopy for Analysis of Water for Human Use and in Aquatic Ecosystems,” Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 2011.
[3]	F. Regan, M. Meaney, J. G. Vos, B. D. MacCraith and J. E. Walsh, “Determination of Pesticides in Water Using ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy on PVC/Chloroparaffin Coatings,” Analytica Chimica Acta, Vol. 334, No. 1-2, 1996, pp. 85-92. doi:10.1016/S0003-2670(96)00259-0
[4]	H. Martens and M. Martens, “Multivariate Analysis of Quality: An Introduction,” Wiley, Chichester, 2001.
[5]	A. Sakudo, R. Tsenkova, K. Tei, T. Onozuka, K. Ikuta, E. Yoshimura and T. Onodera, “Comparison of the Vibration Mode of Metals in HNO3 by a Partial Least-Squares Regression Analysis of Near-Infrared Spectra,” Bioscience Biotechnology and Bioche-mistry, Vol. 70, No. 7, 2006, pp. 1578-1583. doi:10.1271/bbb.50619
[6]	R. Tsenkova, “Introduction Aq-uaphotomics: Dynamic Spectroscopy of Aqueous and Biological Systems Describes Peculiarities of Water,” Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy, Vol. 17, No. 6, 2009, pp. 303-313. doi:10.1255/jnirs.869
[7]	M. T. Sánchez, K. Flores-Rojas, J. E. Guerrero, A. Garrido-Varo and D. Pérez-Marín, “Measurement of Pesticide Residues in Peppers by Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy,” Pest Management Science, No. 66, 2010, p. 580. doi:10.1002/ps.1910
[8]	S. Saranwong and S. Kawano, “Rapid Detection of Pesticide Contaminated on Fruit Surface Using NIR-DESIR Technique: Part II Application on Euparen Detection of Fresh Tomatoes,” Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy, Vol. 13, 2005, pp. 169-172. doi:10.1255/jnirs.470
[9]	http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/rulesregs/sdwa/
[10]	L. L. McConnell, C. P. Rice, C. J. Hapeman, L. Drakeford, J. A. Harmon-Fetcho, K. Bialek, M. H. Fulton, A. K. Leight and G. Allen, “Agricultural Pesticides and Selected Degradation Products in Five Tidal Regions and the Main Stem of Chesapeake Bay USA,” Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Vol. 26, No. 12, 2007, 2567- 2578. doi:10.1897/06-655.1
[11]	A. Gowen, G. Downey, C. Esquerre and C. P. O’Donnel, “Preventing Over-Fitting in PLS Calibration Models of NIR Spectroscopy Data Using Regres-sion Coefficients,” Journal of Chemometrics, Vol. 25, No. 7, 2011, pp. 375- 381. doi:10.1002/cem.1349
[12]	D. Armbruster and T. Pry, “Limit of Blank, Limit of Detection and Limit of Quantitation,” Clinical Biochemist Reviews, Vol. 29, 2008, pp. S49-52.
[13]	Y. Osaki, “Applications in Chemistry in Near-Infrared Spectroscopy: Principles, Instruments and Ap-plications,” In: H. W. Siesler, Y. Ozaki, S. Kawata and H. M. Heise, Eds., Wiley, Chichester, 2002, p. 182.
[14]	L. G. Weyer and S. C. Lo, “Spectra-Structure Correlations in the Near-infrared,” In: J. M. Chalmers and P. R. Griffiths, Eds., Handbook of Vibrational Spectroscopy, Wiley, Chichester, Vol. 3, 2002, pp. 1817-1837.