Development of an Electrochemical Biosensor for Organophosphate Chemicals

Detection of organophosphate (OP) compounds has attracted much attention in terms of safeguarding human health, owing to their frequent use as pesticides in agriculture and their potential use as chemical warfare agents. Among a variety of biological methods based on the biocatalytic activity of organophosphorus hydrolase (OPH), amperometric, potentiometric, and optical biosensing devices have been developed for detecting OPs. Electrochemical biosensors in particular have been widely investigated to monitor various pesticides including OP compounds such as paraoxon, parathion, sarin, and soman via an enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis reaction by OPH due to their fast speed, high efficiency, low cost, and small sample size.