Pesticides determination in foods and natural waters using solid amalgam-based electrodes: Challenges and trends

The intensive use of pesticides in agricultural practices has promoted the appearance of environmental and public health problems. So, there has been a sharp increase in the development of simple, fast, sensitive, selective, and low-cost methods to analyse pesticides. Among them, electroanalytical methods have been frequently employed; however, the performance of these methods is strongly influenced by the working electrode material and so an adequate choice is critical to success of the analysis. Solid amalgam-based electrodes have been widely used; this review critically discusses the evolution of the preparation and use of these electrodes and their application in analysis of pesticides from different chemical classes, indicating challenges and trends in pesticide electroanalysis. The relationship between pesticides' chemical structures and electrochemical behaviour on a mercury-based electrode is explored in order to indicate the use of electroanalysis in pesticide determination.