Detection of organic pesticides in cultural heritage items by surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Abstract Pesticide contamination in cultural heritage items poses significant health risks to museum staff and Indigenous communities. While inorganic pesticides are easily identified via XRF, organic pesticides lack elemental markers, limiting their identification to chromatography. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) offers an alternative to increase detection accessibility in museums. However, SERS application has been limited by weak interactions between metal nanoparticles and organic pesticide molecules. Drawing on advancements in food science, this study evaluates silver and gold nanoparticles for detecting permethrin on substrates commonly found in museum collections (cotton, wood, feather, and vegetable fiber). For the first time, SERS was successfully used to identify an organic pesticide (permethrin) on a real museum item. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that gold nanoparticles can confirm permethrin decontamination following gamma-ray irradiation. These proof-of-concept results establish SERS as a viable tool for pesticide detection and monitoring. Future perspectives for integrating SERS into heritage science protocols are discussed.