PAX Field Kit
Definition
Poison Avoidance eXplorer immunoassay kit: a rapid colorimetric screening tool that detects compound groups (OPs, carbamates, rodenticides) in field extracts from bait or tissue. Presumptive only; confirms sample priority, not compound identity.
- Full name
- Poison Avoidance eXplorer
- Method
- Rapid colorimetric immunoassay
- Detects
- Compound groups: organophosphates, carbamates, rodenticides
- Result type
- Presumptive only, confirms sample priority not identity
- Use setting
- Field screening of bait or tissue extracts
Common questions
Why use a presumptive kit if it cannot identify the exact compound?+
Wildlife poisoning investigations often involve many carcasses or baits recovered at once. A field kit lets investigators triage quickly, sending only the samples that screen positive for the compound group of interest on to a laboratory for confirmatory chromatographic testing.
What can cause a false result with this type of kit?+
Colorimetric immunoassays can cross-react with structurally similar compounds within the same class, and degraded or heavily contaminated field samples can produce weak or ambiguous colour changes, which is why a positive screen always needs laboratory confirmation before it supports a finding.
Related terms
- Alpha-Chloralose
- A narcotic compound used legally for bird capture at low doses; at higher doses, fatally hypothermic. Illegal use targets raptors. Identified by...
- Carbofuran
- A carbamate insecticide (N-methyl carbamate group) that inhibits acetylcholinesterase. Marketed as Furadan; highly toxic at low doses; documented in large-scale raptor and...
- Cholinesterase Inhibition
- The biochemical mechanism of organophosphate and carbamate toxicity: inhibition of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase prevents breakdown of acetylcholine at synapses, producing overstimulation of...
- LC-MS
- Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry: the confirmatory analytical method for pesticide residues in biological matrices. Separates compounds by chromatography, then identifies them by mass-to-charge...
- Organophosphate
- A class of synthetic pesticides that irreversibly inhibit acetylcholinesterase, causing cholinergic toxidrome: muscle paralysis, hypersecretion, seizures. Common agricultural compounds (e.g. dimethoate, chlorpyrifos)...