Abstract:

Imidacloprid is a common neonicotinoid insecticide applied in agricultural fields worlwide. Imidacloprid residues can be detected in water resources as it can accumulate in the surface and ground water after insecticide applications through many years. Because of this, a fast and efficient method, enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA), is used to determine the imidacloprid levels in water sample collected from Tokat city water system and compared with a commercially avaliable bottled water sample. Imidacloprid residue was not detected in bottled water sample. However, imidalcoprid residues was detected in Tokay city water close to the maximum residue limit of imidacloprid. The results indicate that the Tokat city water system could be at the risk of imidacloprid contamination. This study also shows that ELISA technique can be effectively used for imidacloprid determination since it is fast and reliable and well correlated with other time consuming and cost-effective analytical methods.

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