Fibre-optic pesticide biosensor based on covalently immobilized acetylcholinesterase and thymol blue

A fibre-optic based on immobilized acetylcholinesterase is described and its application in the detection of carbamate and organophosphate pesticides through enzyme inhibition measurements is discussed. The bioactive component of the sensor consists of acetylcholinesterase covalently immobilized on preactivated isothiocyanate glass mixed with thymol blue indicator bound on aminopropyl glass and the sensor was constructed by packing a thin layer of the glass bead mixture at the tip of a bifurcated fibre-optic sensor head, which was then integrated with a flow-through cell. The response of the sensor to acetylcholine was highly reproducible (RSD<2%) and readily reversible. The sensor exhibited a linear response to acetylcholine in the concentration range 2.5-25 mM (r(2)=0.992). Inhibition plots obtained for test organophosphate (paraoxon) and carbamate (carbofuran) pesticides exhibited concentration-dependent behaviour and showed linear profiles in the concentration ranges 5x10(-8)-5x10(-7) M for carbofuran and 5x10(-7)-5x10(-6) M for paraoxon. The detection limits, calculated at I(10%), are 1.5x10(-8) M (3.1 ppb) and 1.1x10(-7) M (24.7 ppb) for carbofuran and paraoxon, respectively. The regeneration of paraoxon-inhibited sensor was possible using 2-pyrimidine aldoxime, while repetitive substrate injection was necessary to reactivate the carbofuran-inhibited optrode. The factors affecting the inhibition and reactivation processes were investigated.