Immunochemical technology

B. D. Hammock and R.O. Mumma, Potential of immunochemical technology for pesticide analysis, in Pesticide Analytical Methodology, ed. J.J. Harvey and G. Zweig, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, pp. 321-352 (1980). 

D.S. Aga and E.M. Thurman (eds), Immunochemical Technology for Environmental Applications, ACS Symposium Series 657, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC (1997). 

Dombrowski, T.R., E.M. Thurman, and G.B. Mohrman (1997). Evaluation of immunoassay for the determination of pesticides at a large-scale groundwater contamination site. In D.S. Aga and E.M. Thurman, eds., Immunochemical Technology for Environmental Applications. ACS Symposium Series 657. Washington, DC American Chemical Society, pp. 221-233. 

Farre, M., L. Kantiani, and D. Barcelo. 2007. Advances in immunochemical technologies for analysis of organic pollutants in the environment. Trends Anal. Chem. 26 1100-1112. 

A tremendous immunochemical technology has developed especially in clinical chemistry, and it is time that this technology was exploited to solve new and pressing problems in environmental chemistry. 

A chapter of this length provides, at best, superficial treatment of immunochemical methodology and theory, but this overview, in conjunction with the included references, should offer the reader ready access to the specific immunochemical literature. Hopefully, this article will assist pesticide residue laboratories in applying existing immunochemical technology to specific problems in pesticide analytical chemistry. 

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy negative ion spectroscopy and immunochemical technology are the subjects of several chapters. A chapter on cleanup presents a general challenge for all types of analytical techniques. Chemical derivatization of pesticides and metabolites enhances the detectability and ability to analyze small quantities of pesticide residues. 

The enzyme-linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a rapid Immunochemical procedure which can be used for trace analysis. We have applied the procedure to paraquat and other compounds difficult to analyze by the more classical methods. The Immunoassay for paraquat shows the practicality of the method for fortified and actual residue samples, and Is being compared with a gas chromatography procedure. Our work with the ELISA Illustrates that the Immunochemical technology can be used to solve problems encountered In pesticide residue analysis. 

Immunochemical technology is rapidly advancing in many areas development of field-portable formats, specific antibody generation, detection systems, quality control and quality assurance measures, and new applications. It is not a panacea but should be used when deemed to provide the most appropriate analysis. 

Hammock, B. D. and Mumma, R. O. Potential of Immunochemical Technology for Pesticide Analysis. In Recent Advances in Pesticide Analytical Methodology Harvey, J.,Jr. and Zweig, G. Eds. ACS Symposium Series 136 American Chemical Society, Washington, D. C., 1980, pp 321-352. 

The next few years will be critical in the development of immunochemical technology for use in environmental analysis. In this light this manuscript has three objectives. The first is to address how the critical problems facing the technology can be approached. The second is to introduce aspects of this symposium by pointing out how various laboratories are approaching these problems. Finally, this manuscript will review briefly some of the topics being addressed by this laboratory. 

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