An Inexpensive MEMS-Based Pesticide Detector for Long-Term Monitoring

Pesticides are a continuing source and significant contributor to decreases in air quality. Most pesticides create risk to humans, animals, or the environment by causing health problems, such as birth defects, nerve damage, cancer, and effects that might manifest themselves in the future. Accurate tracking of residual pesticides can aid in eliminating these effects. Today, accurate monitoring requires that samples be collected in the field and transported to a laboratory for analysis; a costly and time-consuming method. To aid in the safe usage and monitoring of pesticides, Seacoast Science, proposes to develop an inexpensive, portable sensor system capable of accurately detecting pesticides and their degradation products. Seacoast Science will design an inexpensive Handheld Pesticide Detector (HPD) for industrial and regulatory use. This microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensor system utilizes an array of micromachined capacitors, each coated with chemoselective polymers optimized for detecting and identifying pesticides. Capable of detecting volatile components of many pesticide mixtures, each device has ten sensors on a single chip, with several different coatings for redundancy and interferent rejection. The MEMS transducers require little power and are inexpensive to produce in large quantities. Long-term, unattended monitoring of storage and manufacturing sites may be possible for the first time.