ABSTRACT
The extensive use of pesticides in agriculture is a concern because it remains in the environment. Exposure to these pollutants can cause health risks, adverse effects on the nervous system, cancer and endocrine disorders. In this sense, are required rapid detection systems, with low cost, reusable, reliable and sensitive. Nanotechnology has a great potential for applications in biosensing devices, with technological and economic advances to increase the agriculture productivity. Biosensor is the device capable of providing specific, quantitative or semi-quantitative analytical information using a biological recognition element in direct contact with the transduction element. At the nanometer scale, nanobiosensors are able to detect substances at the micro- and nanoscale, with real-time response, specific recognition and high sensitivity. Among the nanobiosensors, the cantilever used in atomic force microscopy, when coated with a sensitive layer, can be an alternative for detecting compounds present in minimal amounts in the environment, such as pesticides.
