Biosensor paper strip test for safe drinking water

Engineers at the University of Michigan have developed a strip of paper infused with carbon nanotubes that can quickly and inexpensively detect a toxin produced by algae in drinking water. The paper strips perform 28 times faster than the complicated method most commonly used today to detect microcystin-LR, a chemical compound produced by the blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) commonly found on nutrient-rich waters. Microcystin-LR is among the leading causes of biological water pollution and is believed to be the culprit of many mass poisonings going back to early human history.

Microcystin-LR (MC-LR), even in very small quantities, is suspected to cause liver damage and possibly liver cancer. The substance and others like it are among the leading causes of biological water pollution. It is believed to be a culprit of mass poisonings going back to early human history.

Water treatment plants—even in developed countries—can’t always remove MC-LR completely, nor can they test for it often enough, said Nicholas Kotov, a professor in the departments of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering who led the project. The biosensor he and his colleagues developed provides a quick, cheap, portable and sensitive test that could allow water treatment plants and individuals to verify the safety of water on a more regular basis.

“The safety of drinking water is a vital issue in many developing countries and in many parts of the United States,” Kotov said. “We’ve developed a simple and inexpensive technology to detect multiple toxins.”

Read more . . .

Related articles by Zemanta

• Killer Algae a Key Player in Mass Extinctions (usnews.com)

Random Posts:

• Sunshine is free, so can photovoltaics be cheap?
• The end of retirement
• Tech firm InteraXon to transmit brain waves across Canada
• A Quest for Batteries to Alter the Energy Equation
• Finance & Economics: Innovation Badly Needed

Related posts:

1. Simple Filter Delivers Clean, Safe Drinking Water, Potentially To Millions
2. Inexpensive ‘Dipstick’ Test For Pesticides In Foods
3. Turn waste office paper into toilet paper
4. Drinking Water From Air Humidity
5. A Safe Approach To Nanotechnology

Tags: biosensor, blue green algae, carbon nanotubes, inexpensive technology, killer algae, liver cancer, liver damage, mass extinctions, nutrient rich waters, paper strip, paper strips, safe drinking water, sensitive test, strip test, water pollution, water treatment plants

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Health, Innovation, gizmag. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.