Atrazine is one of the most commonly used herbicides
in the United States, therefore it is a regulatory
concern and is extensively monitored in
the environment, especially in drinking water.
Because of the higher costs of gas chromatography
(GC) methods, utility managers and regulators are
considering the increased use of enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods for monitoring
atrazine. An ELISA test kit was recently
approved by the US Environmental Protection
Agency. The research in this article points out potential
biases and inaccuracies that may occur with such
test kits.
ELISA test kits for atrazine are typically precise
(repeatable) but often have a tendency for a positive
bias from unknown interferences. Negative biases are
also observed in some cases, which suggest a lower
atrazine concentration than is actually present. The
results of this research can help utilities and regulators
to better determine the best use of ELISA versus GC
methods for analyzing atrazine with respect to monitoring
and/or process control.
Includes 36 references, tables, figures.
| Edition : | Vol. 96 - No. 12 |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 340 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 14 |
| Published : | 12/01/2004 |
