DETERMINATION OF CARBOFURAN IN WATER AND SOIL BY A RAPID MAGNETIC PARTICLE-BASED ELISA

A competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the quanti tation of carbofuran in water and soil was developed using a magnetic particle-based solid phase. This assay utilizes magnetic particles as the solid phase to attach polyclonal rabbit anti-carbofuran antibodies . The ELISA has an estimated detection limit of 0.056 parts per billio n (ppb, ng/mL) of carbofuran in water and 5.6 ppb in soil. The standar d curve allows quantitation up to 5.0 ppb in water and 500 ppb in soil . The ELISA compares favorably with HPLC measurements in the analysis of water samples (r = 0.967). Recoveries from soils fortified with 0.0 5-1 ppm of carbofuran averaged 98.6% using l-h extractions with methan ol/water (75:25 v/v).