Development of an electrochemical assay for 2,6-dinitrotoluene, based on a screen-printed carbon electrode, and its potential application in bioanalysis, occupational and public health

Screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) have been successfully exploited as disposable sensors for the measurement of 2,6-dinitrotoluene (2,6-DNT) using a stripping voltammetric method. Initial investigations were undertaken using cyclic voltammetry (CV) to characterise the redox behaviour at the SPCEs. Further studies were then performed to deduce the optimum applied potential and accumulation time for the stripping voltammetric procedure. In addition, a study was carried out to ascertain whether small volumes of samples could be reliably used for analysis. From these studies it was shown that a 100 μl aliquot of sample could be analysed and the calibration plot was linear from 161 ng ml-1 to 137 μg ml-1 (R2=0.9991), the former concentration being the detection limit. The effects of the major components of human saliva at concentrations normally present were investigated. Of the individual components tested, only Cl- and albumen were found to interfere. The presence of the latter could be easily overcome by the addition of (NH4)2SO4. An interference study was also carried out on some inorganic and organic species that may be present in water samples. The sensors were evaluated by carrying out 2,6-DNT determinations on spiked and unspiked human saliva, dust wipe and potable water samples. Mean recoveries of 47.5, 73.4 and 102.4% were obtained; coefficients of variation of 7.88, 6.63 and 6.42% were calculated for a concentration of 9.1 μg ml-1 in water, 10.6 μg ml-1 saliva samples, and 141.1 ng cm-2 for dust wipe samples, respectively. The performance characteristics show that the method holds promise and reliable data may be obtained for 2,6-DNT in bioanalysis and public health. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved