Quantitative and sensitive mapping of imidacloprid on plants using Multiphoton Electron Extraction Spectroscopy

Anneli Kruve, Valery Bulatov, Israel Schechter

Index: 10.1016/j.chemphys.2018.03.031

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Abstract

Neonicotinoids, including imidacloprid, are extensively used for plant protection against insects. Unfortunately, these effective pesticides are one of the reasons for the decline of the bee population in recent decades. Ensuring application of minimal pesticide quantity and preventing excess requires a fast method for monitoring the coverage on plants. We present a new, method based on multiphoton electron extraction spectroscopy (MEES), for detecting, quantifying and mapping of imidacloprid coverage on plants. Imaging and quantitative analyses were demonstrated on several plant surfaces including olive and mint leaves and orange peel. Method provides both low detection limits (down to nanogram level) and good trueness. This method is fast and can be directly performed with no sample pre-treatment, thus, it is a good candidate for field analyses.