my $dbh = DBI->connect("DBI:mysqlPP:host=localhost;database=foo",'bar','baz',{ AutoCommit => 1, RaiseError => 1});

... some stuff...

foreach my $color (@color){

        	# trim whitespace
               	$color =~ s/^\s+|\s+$//gm;

                #  see if the color already exists in the color table.
               	my $rowCheckQuery = qq{SELECT color_id FROM color WHERE color=?};
                my $sth = $dbh->prepare($rowCheckQuery);
                $sth->execute($color);
}