Rapid detection of toxic petroleum residues in seafood

石油泄漏会造成巨大的环境破坏，对公众健康构成严重威胁。石油含有许多有毒化合物，包括多芳烃（PAHs）。一些多环芳烃化合物具有高度致癌性，并导致人类DNA突变。当石油泄漏到海洋中时，多环芳烃化合物迅速在海洋环境中扩散，最终在海洋生物中积累，威胁到我们的海鲜供应。美国食品和药物管理局规定，受石油污染的海产品不适合人类食用，不应该收获或出售。因此，在漏油事件发生后，需要仔细监测以评估受污染区域的程度，确保海鲜供应不含多环芳烃化合物，并监测受影响区域恢复正常状态，以便重新开放封闭区域。不幸的是，尽管有这种迫切的需求，目前使用的大多数筛选方法在检测海产品中多环芳烃化合物的潜在危险水平方面有些不准确和不可靠。迫切需要新的替代测试方法。在第一阶段，我们创建了一种基于酶的快速检测多环芳烃化合物的方法。我们的方法比现有的测试方法更简单、快捷、方便。我们的分析的优越属性使其具有革新海产品多环芳烃测试的潜力。在第二阶段，我们将优化并商业化开发该检测方法，以生产可靠且坚固的检测试剂盒。为了使码头检测和消除有毒有机溶剂的使用，我们将创造一种新的基于洗涤剂的方法来处理海鲜样品。接下来，我们将扩大我们专有酶试剂的生产规模，以满足市场需求。最后，为了获得客户的认可，我们将根据公认的NOAA测试方法验证我们的酶分析。我们的测试套件将为海产品生产商和政府机构（如FDA和NOAA）提供一种急需的具有成本效益，可靠和敏感的工具，用于在石油泄漏后检测海产品中的石油。

DESCRIPTION: Oil spills can cause tremendous environmental damage and are a serious threat to public health. Petroleum contains many toxic compounds, including polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Some PAH compounds are highly carcinogenic and cause DNA mutations in humans. When petroleum is spilled into the sea, PAH compounds rapidly spread through the marine environment and eventually accumulate in marine life and threaten our seafood supply. The FDA has mandated that petroleum-contaminated seafood is unfit for human consumption and should not be harvested or sold. Therefore, after an oil spill, careful monitoring is needed to assess the extent of the contaminated areas, ensure that seafood supplies are free of PAH compounds and monitor the return of affected areas to a normal state to allow re-opening of closed areas. Unfortunately, despite this critical need, the most currently used screening method is somewhat inaccurate and unreliable for the detection of potentially hazardous levels of PAH compounds in seafood. New alternative testing methods are sorely needed. In Phase I, we created a rapid enzyme-based assay to detect PAH compounds. Our method is much simpler, faster and more convenient than current test methods. The superior attributes of our assay give it the potential to revolutionize seafood PAH testing. In Phase II we will optimize and commercially develop the assay to produce a reliable and rugged test kit. To enable dockside testing and eliminate the use of toxic organic solvents, we will create a novel detergent-based method to process seafood samples. Next, we will scale-up manufacturing of our proprietary enzyme reagents to meet market needs. Lastly, to gain customer acceptance, we will validate our enzymatic assay against the accepted NOAA test method. Our test kit will provide seafood producers and government agencies such as the FDA and NOAA with a much-needed cost-effective, reliable and sensitive tool to detect petroleum in seafood after oil spills.