A review on advances and perspectives of glyphosate determination : challenges and opportunities

Glyphosate is an inhibitor of the shikimate pathway in plants and the most widely used broad-spectrum herbicide. Due to the abundance of its use, there exists a necessity to measure the levels both in humans and in the environment to control the nefarious outcomes of its use. The appropriateness, selectivity, and the specificity of the employed analytical methods are crucial for the reliability of the resultant deductions when conducting biomonitoring studies on possible exposure to chemicals, whether the samples are biological or environmental in nature. The aim of this study is to evaluate the analytical techniques used to monitor glyphosate levels in human and environmental samples. A detailed web-based literature search was conducted to gather data on the analytical techniques used for glyphosate determination. The most preferred authentic samples are blood, urine, and milk. Environmental samples include plants, soil, and water. Among widely used analytical techniques used to detect glyphosate are High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Liquid Chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry, Gas Chromatography – Tandem Mass Spectrometry, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Depending on the sample and study, the most suitable analytical method has been selected. A critical evaluation and publication of pre-existing literature on analytical methods in glyphosate-based herbicide detection will thus aid all relevant researchers in the determination of an appropriate, selective, and specific methodology