Advance in Microfluidics Techniques for Rapid Detection of Pesticide Residues in Food

Abstract

Food safety is a significant issue that affects people worldwide and is tied to their lives and health. The issue of pesticide residues in food is just one of many issues related to food safety, which leave residues in crops and are transferred through the food chain to human consumption. Foods contaminated with pesticide residues pose a serious risk to human health, including carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity and endocrine disruption. Although traditional methods including gas chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, chromatography and mass spectrometry can be used to achieve quantitative analysis of pesticide residues, the disadvantages of these techniques, such as being time-consuming and costly and requiring specialist staff, limit their application. Therefore, there is a need to develop rapid, effective and sensitive equipment for the quantitative analysis of pesticide residues in food. Microfluidics is rapidly emerging in a number of fields due to its outstanding strengths. This paper summarizes the application of microfluidic techniques to pyrethroid, carbamate, organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticides, as well as to commercial products. Meanwhile, the paper also outlines the development of microfluidics in combination with 3D printing technology and nanomaterials for the detection of pesticide residues in food.