SBIR Phase I: Development of a new ELISA for detection of PFAS in soil and water

SBIR第一期工程的更广泛影响是改善环境测试。一类污染物是PFAS（全氟和多氟烷基物质），与高胆固醇水平、甲状腺疾病、某些癌症和妊娠相关问题有关。目前的测试成本为每个样品300美元，并且每天提供30个样品的低吞吐量。拟议的项目开发了一种测试，每个样品的成本为50美元（减少了6倍），每天可以测试大约120个样品（增加了4倍）。它最初可以提供一种快速、低成本的定性筛查工具，使用户能够确定关注领域、热点、应急响应期间的检测和缓解工作期间的测试。拟议的项目将以酶联免疫吸附法（elisa）的形式开发一种新的免疫测定方法，用于检测土壤和水中最丰富的两种全氟辛烷磺酸——全氟辛酸和全氟辛烷磺酸。目前，PFAS检测涉及基于实验室的、昂贵的LC-MS（液相色谱-质谱）方法。诸如ELISA的抗体测试对目标化合物以及任何类似结构的化合物具有特异性。因此，该测试将检测到多种全氟化合物。在开发PFAS ELISA期间，将在EPA实验室使用LC-MS进行验证测试，以验证ELISA测试可以检测到的物种以及相应的检测水平。该研究将包括确定适合该应用的免疫原和半抗原，抗体生产和抗体特异性和敏感性筛选。目标是将PFAS检测灵敏度提高到50ppt。一旦检测的技术可行性得到证实，抗体就可以用于开发更完整的测试，使用试纸或磁性颗粒。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this SBIR Phase I Project is to improve environmental testing. Once class of contaminants is PFAS (Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances), associated with high cholesterol levels, thyroid disease, certain cancers, and pregnancy-related problems. Current testing costs $300 per sample and offers low throughput is low at 30 samples per day. The proposed project develops a test that would cost $50 per sample (6X reduction) and could test about 120 samples per day (4X increase). It could initially offer a rapid, low-cost qualitative screening tool, allowing users to determine areas of concern, hot spots, detection during emergency response and testing during mitigation efforts. The proposed project will develop a novel immunoassay in the form of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for the detection of PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid), two of the most abundant PFAS in soil and water. Currently, PFAS testing involves laboratory-based, costly LC-MS (Liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry) methods. An antibody test such as an ELISA has specificity to the target compound as well as any similarly structured compounds. Thus, the test will detect multiple species of the perfluorinated compounds. During the development of PFAS ELISA, verification testing will be done in an EPA lab using LC-MS to verify the species that can be detected by the ELISA test along with the accompanying levels of detection. The research will include determination of the appropriate immunogens and haptens for this application, antibody production, and screening of antibody for specificity and sensitivity. The goal is to improve PFAS detection sensitivity to 50 ppt. Once technical feasibility of detection is demonstrated, the antibodies can be used to develop more complete assays using test strips or magnetic particles.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.