A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
was developed for the detection of the pyrethroidinsecticide esfenvalerate. T
wo haptens containing amine or propanoic acid groups on the terminalaromatic ring of the fenvalerate molecule
were synthesized and coupled to carrier proteins asimmunogens. Five antisera
were produced and screened against eight different coating antigens.The assay that had the least interference and
was the most sensitive for esfenvalerate
was optimizedand characterized. The
I50 for esfenvalerate
was 30 ± 6.2
g/L, and the lo
wer detection limit (LDL)
was 3.0 ± 1.8
g/L. The assay
was very selective. Other pyrethroid analogues and esfenvaleratemetabolites tested did not cross-react significantly in this assay. To increase the sensitivity of theoverall method, a C
18 sorbent-based solid-phase extraction (SPE)
was used for
water matrix. Withthis SPE step, the LDL of the overall method for esfenvalerate
was 0.1
g/L in
water samples.Key
words: Immunoassay; esfenvalerate; pyrethroids; solid-phase extraction; residue analysis