ABSTRACT
Although some OPs compounds are highly toxic to humans, they generally break down rapidly in the environment and have been rarely found in groundwater. Despite the fact that fi nal products of degradation are generally not toxic, the intermediary oxidized products are often much more toxic than the original OPs. The determination of all degradation products by traditional methods is quite diffi cult because of the uncertainty about which products to test. Alternatively, the monitoring of drinking water by AChE based biosensors allows the detection of global neurotoxic compounds in water (OPs, carbamate, heavy metals...). These tools are appropriate to protect human health from excess amounts of neurotoxic compounds, as well as diseases due to the accumulation of low amounts of these chemicals.
