Monitoring carbamazepine in surface and wastewaters by an immunoassay based on a monoclonal antibody.
The pharmaceutical compound carbamazepine (CBZ) is an emerging pollutant in the aquatic environment and may potentially be used as a wastewater marker. In this work, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of carbamazepine in surface and sewage waters has been developed. The heterogeneous immunoassay is based on a commercially available monoclonal antibody and a novel enzyme conjugate (tracer) that links the hapten via a hydrophilic peptide (triglycine) spacer to horseradish peroxidase. The assay achieves a limit of detection of 24 ng/L and a quantitation range of 0.05-50 microg/L. The analytical performance and figure of merits were compared to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry after solid-phase extraction. For nine Berlin surface water samples and one wastewater sample, a close correlation of results was observed. A constant overestimation relative to the CBZ concentration of approximately 30% by ELISA is probably caused by the presence of 10,11-epoxy-CBZ and 2-hydroxy-CBZ in the samples. The ELISA displayed cross-reactivities for these compounds of 83% and 14%, respectively. In a first screening of 27 surface water samples, CBZ was detected in every sample with concentrations between 0.05 and 3.2 microg/L. Since no sample cleanup is required, the assay allowed for the determination of carbamazepine with high sensitivity at low costs and with much higher throughput than with conventional methods.
Bahlmann
Arnold
A
BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Richard-Willstätter-Str. 11, 12489, Berlin, Germany.
Weller
Michael G
MG
Panne
Ulrich
U
Schneider
Rudolf J
RJ
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000032:analysis; D002220:Carbamazepine / Q000032:analysis*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012722:Sewage / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D012722:Sewage; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002220:Carbamazepine