Immunoenzymatic determination of atrazine in rat tissue samples

In the present study our objective was to adapt a competitive enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for the determination of atrazine in animal tissues (liver and kidney). Female Wistar rats were administered through gavage with a single dose of atrazine (500 or 1000 mg/kg body weight) and sacrificed 24, 48 h and 7 days following the exposure. Using liver tissue samples the extraction procedure was improved. The atrazine concentrations measured in the liver were higher than those found in the kidney, but both can be ranked as low compared with the amount of the administered doses. These data confirm that tissue retention is minimal. Further studies are necessary in order to make an overall evaluation concerning the amount of atrazine retained in the organism. We consider that the competitive EIA may be a promising technique for epidemiological screening of pesticides. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.