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Minute
amounts of organic pollutants—including oestrone—can
now be detected in river water as a result of a new
optical sensing instrument realised in a project funded
by the EU’s Environment Programme.
Pollution in water sources
has been identified as a major source of environmental
hazard, most recently associated with gender changes
in fish, and implicated in falling levels of male
fertility. Monitoring water quality and identifying
pollution sources is therefore crucially important
in river management.
Across the EU, methods of water
monitoring need to be developed and implemented to
ensure effective standardized enforcement of EU water
quality directives. With partners in the UK, Germany,
Spain, and the Slovak Republic, the EU-funded AWACSS
(Automated Water Analyser Computer Supported System)
project has developed a cost-effective online water-monitoring
instrument that will help meet the needs of water
managers.
The new instrument has drawn
on the skills of research scientists and environmentalists
and has been successfully demonstrated in river waters.
It is designed for networking across Europe, and further
developments are expected to enable early detection
and warning.
The system uses optical sensors
to enable rapid, simultaneous and high-sensitivity
fluorescence detection of up to 32 organic pollutants
and pesticides in river water. Amongst the pollutants
to be successfully detected is oestrone, which occurs
naturally and as a by-product of the contraceptive
pill.
‘Optical sensors have great
potential in simultaneous, rapid, high-sensitivity
measurement of multiple pollutants in water,’ said
Professor James Wilkinson of the Optoelectronics Research
Centre at the University of Southampton.
‘The biosensor chip enables
us to measure a large number of low molecular weight
organic pollutants, and we have successfully detected
levels at below 1 nanogram per litre for oestrone,
which is one hundred times better than the original
project target.
‘Ultimately the instrument
will be networked so that pollution sources can be
monitored remotely with full automation,’ he continued,
‘and trend analysis and early-warning capabilities
will be provided.’
It is envisaged that the network
will be distributed over a water catchment area, allowing
a source of pollution to be localized early and characterized
rapidly. In cases of severe water pollution, precautionary
systems will be activated automatically or manually
by operators of wastewater treatment plants.
Notes
1. Oestrone is an oestrogen, one of a group of steroid
hormones which promote the development and maintenance
of female characteristics of the body.
2. Further information on AWACSS can be found at http://barolo.ipc.uni-tuebingen.de/awacss/
3. AWACSS partners are: the Optoelectronics Research
Centre, University of Southampton, UK; Eberhard-Karls
University of Tuebingen, Germany; Central Research
Laboratories Ltd, UK; the Centre d’Investigació
I Desenvolupament, Barcelona, Spain; DVGW – Technologiezentrum
Wasser, Karlsruhe, Germany; the Environmental Institute,
Kos, Slovakia; King’s College, London, UK; Siemens,
Erlangen, Germany; the Water Research Institute, Bratislava,
Slovakia.
4. The AWACSS research project was supported by the
European Commission under the Fifth Framework Programme,
contributing to the implementation of the Key Action
‘Sustainable Management and Quality of Water’ within
the Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development.
Reference URL
http://barolo.ipc.uni-tuebingen.de/awacss/ |
