Fibre optic sensor arrays for on-site monitoring of heavy metal contaminants in ground water including mercury, copper and nickel

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Contamination of the environment with heavy metals such as mercury, nickel, copper and lead is a continuing threat to human health and the ecosystem.  Coal-fired plants produce an estimated 350,000 lbs of mercury per year in the US and global emissions are estimated at 12 million lbs/year.  Sudbury residents drink water contaminated with the highest levels of nickel (a known carcinogen) in the world.  The east and west coasts of Canada and the US also suffer from post-industrial environmental damage. In order for the environment to be protected from pollutants, such as heavy metals, efficient detectors must be available for routine on-site use in areas with high levels of contaminants such as tailings ponds, abandoned mines, tanneries, industrial sites, military bases, ports and waste containment facilities (landfills).  Currently, the most commonly used and best remediation strategy is to separate toxic soils and landfill them; therefore, monitoring landfill environs is of critical importance to prevent further contamination.  Currently, collection of samples from wells surrounding the site is followed by off-site processing. This is expensive and leaves the environment unprotected in between scheduled sampling. The combination of chemically selective coatings on fibre optic sensors that relay information via telemetry, will result in a sensor system, which is more robust, cheaper and faster than any existing technology.  These sensor arrays will help prevent the unmonitored release of toxic chemicals into the environment, such as occurred  in 1994 when millions of litres of nickel-contaminated effluent flowed for 8 days from an Inco mine into Grassy Creek near Sudbury. The research team's combined expertise in material science, fibre optics and environmental monitoring, together with the established collaboration among the team and with the industrial partners, provides a unique opportunity for significant advances in environmental monitoring technology.