Glyphosate Detection: An Innovative Approach by Using Chemoresistive Gas Sensors

Glyphosate is the most frequently used herbicide worldwide, its hazard potential is unclear and nowadays a threshold limit value has not yet been determined. We used eight chemoresistive gas sensors based on semiconducting nanopowders for the identification of N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine in air. The sensors were tested at their proper working temperature in presence of volatile glyphosate at concentrations within the range of 6 ppb–1 ppm, i.e., a plausible interval of interest for its monitoring. The sensing material that best performed was a solid solution of Tungsten oxide and Tin oxide (WS30). This study opens up to design portable devices suitable for monitoring glyphosate concentrations at which workers and people are exposed.