The use of pesticides in agriculture has resulted resulted in the growing concern on the presence and danger of residues in the environment. One of these is fungicide benomyl. Benomyl is an accepted common name for methl N-(1-butylcarbamoyl) henzimidazol-2-yl carbamate, a systematic fungicide used to control a wide range of fungal diseases of fruits, nuts, vegetables, field crops, turf and ornaments. Formulations include wettable powder, dry flowable powder and dispersible granules. Benomyl is strongly bound to soil and is highly persistent. However, benomyl is less soluble in water, about 2 ng litre-1 at c5C. Other commercial names for products containing benomyl include Agrodit, Benex, Benlate, Benosan, Fundazol, Fungidice 1991 and Tersan. Since the use of benomyl  in oil palm plantation causes concerns of its negative impact on the environment , it is therefore necessary to develop an analytical method to direct, quantify and monitor benomyl (or carbendazim) residue in water samples from the oil palm agroenvironment.

Main Research: Dr Halimah Muhammad