There is growing concern about groundwater contamination and
the impact of such contamination on health, agriculture, and water supplies.
Because of this, it is becoming increasingly important to demonstrate the
effectiveness of environmental remediation processes. One of the best ways to do
this is to obtain a set of time-discrete samples from which kinetic rates (such
as for pollutant destruction) can be calculated. Issues with taking such
measurements include the difficulty of storing large volumes of fluid for later
analysis in the lab, especially if the chemical of interest is labile or prone
to disintegration.
Prof. Rolf Halden at the Biodesign Institute of Arizona State
University has developed an innovative way to determine the rates of processes
without collecting and storing multiple fluid subsamples. This invention will
allow determination of multiple kinetic rates, even if the chemicals of interest
are labile. Additionally, because volumes of groundwater or other fluids are not
stored, the sampling device can be made smaller, reducing its cost and
increasing its applications.
This device will find immediate application in environmental
studies and, when sufficiently miniaturized, in other areas such as biomedical
diagnostics.
Potential Applications
- Environmental sampling of bulk water and groundwater to
determine kinetic rates, such as
- Biotransformation
- Pollutant destruction
- Biomedical diagnostics and similar applications
Benefits and Advantages
- Sampling device can be miniaturized, as there is no need to
store volumes of fluid
- Miniaturized device will be less expensive while having
expanded applications
- Multiple kinetic rates can be determined
- Method is compatible with environmental compliance
monitoring techniques
- Can even determine rates involving chemicals that are labile
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For more information about the inventor(s) and their
research, please see
Dr.
Halden's directory webpage
Dr. Halden's
laboratory webpage
