Molecularly imprinted polymers as chemosensors for organophosphate pesticide detection and environmental applications

Abstract

Synthetic chemicals including phosphate-based pesticides and fertilizers have led to the increased transport of chemical toxicants in the environment and caused organophosphate pollution, thus posing a human health threat and an environmental risk. Organophosphate pesticides (OPPs) and other environmental pollutants have largely compromised the integrity of environmental matrices. Consequently, there is a critical need to develop novel technologies that are robust, versatile, cost-effective, highly sensitive, and reliable for their detection. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) offer an attractive sensing approach due to their enhanced affinity and selectivity in detection applications. Hence, MIPs-based sensors have been extensively reported in the literature as suitable analytical tools for environmental monitoring. Herein, we provide a comprehensive review regarding the OPPs’ development, their toxicity, and their impact to human health and the environment, followed with detailed discussion on MIP preparation and associated signal transduction methods as chemosensors for OPPs detection and environmental applications.