Rapid determination of methyl parathion and fenthion residues based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Methyl parathion (MP) and fenthion are both organophosphorus pesticides that have been widely used in agriculture. However, they significantly pollute the environment. A silver nanorod array chip prepared under low temperature conditions was designed to detect the residues of fenthion on the surface of fruit peel and methyl parathion in water. The results show that the characteristic peaks of MP were at 811, 855, 1158, 1236, and 1324 cm − 1 and the characteristic peaks of fenthion were at 853, 1156, 1224, and 1590 cm − 1. The vibrational modes of each peak were calculated using the density function theory. This method can detect MP in different water samples and fenthion on apple peel within 3 min without any complicated pretreatment. The results suggest that the method for rapid determination of organophosphorus pesticides based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy was sensitive and reliable. It is expected that this method has great application potential in environmental pollution monitoring.