Field-Deployable Monitor to Assess Personal Exposure to Multiple Heavy Metals

描述(由申请人提供) 在生产、使用和处置过程中，大量的污染物不断地排放到环境中。由此产生的混合物污染环境，并可能对人类构成潜在威胁。重金属是一种重要的环境污染物，因为它们往往会在环境中持续存在，容易在生物上积累，在摄入或吸入时可能会对健康造成不利影响。这些金属物种可以在人体组织或血液或尿液中进行测量，通常在中心实验室使用复杂的方法，如高效液相色谱电感耦合等离子体质谱。然而，考虑到与集中式实验室分析相关的高劳动力和分析成本以及长时间延迟，迫切需要一种便携式且廉价的系统，用于现场监测由于饮用水、环境和工业来源暴露而导致的生活系统中的重金属暴露，尤其是人类。用于现场、现场、个人接触评估的现场可部署监测系统将允许实时监测微量有毒金属的暴露，并通过允许将仪器带到样本而不是将样本带到实验室的传统方式促进生物监测数据的使用。 该项目的总体目标是开发一种便携式、自给自足、易于使用的监测仪，用于从一个尿样中几乎实时地同时现场测量砷、镉、汞和铅的金属，以评估个人的接触情况。该传感器将结合专门的电化学测量技术的高灵敏度和独特的微阵列电极材料和配置。在第一阶段，我们将研究传感器的设计配置、电极材料组成和初步操作条件，以证明独特的微芯片传感器原型用于检测砷和镉形态的可行性。在第一阶段/第二阶段计划结束时，将开发一种紧凑的、成套的传感器原型仪器，并在试点流行病学现场试验中进行测试和使用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) Numerous pollutant compounds are continuously released into the environment during their production, use and disposal. The resulting mixtures contaminate the environment and can be a potential threat to human beings. Heavy metals are significant environmental pollutants because they tend to persist in the environment, tend to bioaccumulate and can result in adverse health effects when ingested or inhaled. These metal species can be measured in human tissue or fluids such as blood or urine, usually in central laboratories using complex methods such as high-performance liquid chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. However, in view of the high labor and analytical costs and long time delays associated with centralized laboratory analyses, there is an immediate need for a portable and inexpensive system for on-site monitoring of exposure to heavy metals in living systems, especially humans, as a result of exposure through drinking water, environmental, and industrial sources. Field deployable monitoring systems for in-situ, on-site, personal human exposure assessment will allow realtime monitoring of exposure to trace toxic metals, and facilitate the use of bio-monitoring data by allowing the instrument to be taken to the sample rather than the traditional way of bringing the sample to the laboratory. The overall objective of this project is to develop a portable, self-contained, easy-to-use monitor for simultaneous on-site measurement of arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead metals from one urine sample, in near real time, to assess personal exposure. The proposed sensor will combine the high sensitivity of a specialized electrochemical measurement technique with a unique microarray electrode material and configuration. During Phase I, we will investigate sensor design configurations, electrode material composition, and the preliminary operating conditions which will demonstrate the feasibility of the unique microchip sensor prototype for detection of arsenic and cadmium species. At the conclusion of the Phase I/II program, a compact, packaged prototype sensor instrument will have been developed, tested and utilized in pilot epidemiological field trials.