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Early Warning System Against Environmental Contamination
Marshall Porterfield, an associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering, says that this process may be used as an early warning system against environmental contamination or even biological weapons.
He highlights the fact that respiration-the process wherein animals and other organisms burn oxygen to produce energy-is often the first of a fish's bodily functions affected by contaminants.
His team has shown that using fibre optics to quickly monitor this activity can produce results within minutes.
"Say you are exposed to the common cold virus. Before symptoms develop and you become aware of the bug's presence, it has already begun to attack your cells. Similarly, fish and other organisms are affected by contaminants before behavioural changes appear. Our technology detects heretofore undetectable changes to act as an early warning system," he said.
A research article in the online edition of the journal Environmental Science and Technology says that the novel system detected the presence of several common pollutants, such as the widely-used herbicide atrazine, even at levels near or below those that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deems acceptable for drinking water.
"This means the technology could not only help monitor environmental quality but may be used to enforce important water quality standards," said Marisol Sepulveda, lead author and assistant professor of forestry and natural resources at Purdue.
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