Phone tech to shine a light on Brazil’s pesticide problem

Scientists from the University of Northumberland developed the project with colleagues from the Federal University of Santa Caterina, situated in South America’s largest crop producer, Brazil, to combat the effects of chemical contamination on farmland.

The teams are working on sensors made from organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) that can respond to the presence of pesticides and herbicides by glowing.

Research will combine Northumbria’s expertise in OLEDs with Santa Caterina’s knowledge in food contamination and soil science.

Northumbria assistant professor in molecular photophysics Dr Mark Etherington has been leading research into the light emitting/absorbing and time-delay properties of fluorophore molecules.

He said his hope is to apply light-derived solutions to agricultural and other challenges using the university’s recently installed state of the art fluorescence spectrometer.

“I’m excited to take the knowledge we have in the specific area of OLEDs and turn it on its head to find a brand-new pathway to solve a global problem,” he commented.

“If this study works in the way we hope, we believe the science behind it will be applicable for a wide range of industries. There is some huge potential from this work."

Agriculture and food production has been a cornerstone of Brazil’s economic development; it is the world’s largest producer of sugarcane and coffee and recently overtook the United States as the leading soybean producer.

However, pesticide adoption has mushroomed, with more than 720,000 tonnes sold in 2021 alone – a 5% increase on the previous year.

Santa Catarina academic Dr Leonardo Furini who has been developing means to detect food, water and soil contaminants, stated:

“To effectively reduce this contamination of food pathways, early and accurate detection of pesticides and herbicides is necessary.

“Development in this area of pesticide and herbicide detection will have a great impact on the Brazilian economy and will strengthen food security for the local populace and their international exports.”

Northumbria said that a study of 4,600 foods samples found more than 50% contained pesticide residue and 23% had either more pesticide residue than is allowed or contained pesticides that were not legally allowed to be used on the crop.

The Royal Society has provided a £0.2 million grant from its ISPF International Collaboration Awards to assess the size and impact of chemical contamination in Brazilian agriculture alongside the collaborative project, which is being supported by spectrometry and sensor developer HORIBA’s experts.

HORIBA UK head of science and technology Dr Simon Fitzgerald described the project as a “brilliant example of taking existing technology and applying it in new ways which may unveil real-world impact”.

“We’re delighted to connect the project researchers with experienced HORIBA scientists in both the UK and Brazil to explore how the latest spectroscopic and imaging technologies can be applied. Technical exchange with the researchers will ensure the most effective use of the latest products and help translate data into meaningful insight,” said Fitzgerald.

Pic: Laura Arias