Detecting and tracking thiram in leakage pathways using bioinspired nanograss with thuja fruit-like nanoparticles

Thiram is a widely employed pesticide that has been instrumental in agricultural practices owing to its efficacy in fungal disease control. However, its extensive and unregulated application has prompted concerns regarding environmental contamination and associated human diseases, including neurological disorders, gastrointestinal disturbances, respiratory problems, dermatological disorders, and endocrine disruption. Thus, detecting thiram residues across diverse environments where these residues are likely to leak has emerged as a critical endeavor to address the aforementioned pressing concerns. This study introduced a hybrid structure by integrating bioinspired nanograss (NG) with thuja fruit-like nanoparticles (TFNPs) to achieve sensitive thiram detection within potential leakage pathways. The hybrid architecture, amalgamating TFNPs and NG, underwent optimization to augment the overall sensing capabilities, thus mitigating the limitations of individual substrates. The resulting hybrid surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrate, termed TFNPs@NG, demonstrated outstanding performance by achieving a detection limit of 1 pM for thiram in ethyl alcohol. It proficiently discriminated thiram from various sulfur-containing pesticides. The sensor also demonstrated remarkable reproducibility, signal uniformity, and selectivity, rendering it well-suited for practical applications. This TFNPs@NG-based SERS sensor shows considerable potential for the sensitive and reliable detection of thiram in diverse leakage pathways, encompassing soil, drinking water, and milk. This advancement contributes significantly to the fields of environmental monitoring and public health protection.