Summary

An important branch of environmental research is dealing with the distribution of pesticides and their metabolites. The development of methods, especially of the rather expensive physico-chemical procedures, has experienced considerable progress. However, to lower instrumental costs and personnel being involved, remedial measures are used and required. The highly selective and sensitive immunochemical methods are such an important supplement. They can be used to cope with quantitative (enzyme immunoessays) or qualitative problems (immunolocalization of adsorbed residues in soil and plant).

The book introduces validated assays for pesticides and their metabolites that can be applied routinely. An extension to immunofluorescent methods further improves the sensitivity. The significance of the test development has been directly proven by screening programs including the use of model ecosystems.