Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μ-PADs) are a new technology platform for the development of extremely low-cost sensing applications. In this study, μ-PADs has been developed for quantitative determination of carbamate pesticides. Key experimental parameters including concentration and volume of acetylcholinesterase, acetylthiocholine iodide and 5,5′-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid), incubation time and image capturing time were systematically optimized. Under optimal conditions, the method showed wide range of linearity (0.25–16 mg/L), repeatability (4%–5% RSD) and intermediate precision (7%–10% RSD). Limit of detection was observed to be 0.4, 0.24 and 0.46 mg/L for carbaryl, carbosulfan and furathiocarb, respectively. An acceptable mean recovery (87% to 94%) was observed for the three pesticides at 1 mg/L fortification level. The results reveal that the developed method requires minimal reagents, simple and is easy to handle. It can be used for the quantification of carbamate pesticides in resource limited laboratories without the need for the conventional analytical instruments.

微流控纸基分析设备 (μ-PAD) 是一种用于开发极低成本传感应用的新技术平台。在本研究中，开发了用于定量测定氨基甲酸酯类农药的 μ-PAD。系统优化了乙酰胆碱酯酶、乙酰硫代胆碱碘化物和5,5'-二硫代双-(2-硝基苯甲酸)的浓度和体积、孵育时间和图像捕获时间等关键实验参数。在最佳条件下，该方法显示出宽范围的线性 (0.25–16 mg/L)、重复性 (4%–5% RSD) 和中等精密度 (7%–10% RSD)。对西维因、丁硫克百威和呋喃硫威的检测限分别为 0.4、0.24 和 0.46 mg/L。三种农药在 1 mg/L 的加标水平下观察到可接受的平均回收率（87% 至 94%）。结果表明，所开发的方法需要最少的试剂、简单且易于操作。它可以在资源有限的实验室中用于氨基甲酸酯类农药的定量，而无需传统的分析仪器。