Antibodies were characterised using fluorescence polarisation, a homogeneous assay technique in which all reagents are in solution. Kinetic studies on the association and dissociation of the immunocomplex were performed. A competitive assay was used and the sensitivities, operational linearities, as well as the specificities of the immunoassays were experimentally determined for various antibody preparations with specificity for triazines. Detection limits for atrazine in water samples were determined to be within the range of 0.08-0.4 ng ml(-1) using a 5-min incubation time and a 0.5-ml sample volume.