Smartphone Test Can Save Millions of People From Drinking Arsenic Contaminated Water

Smartphone device may help millions of people avoid drinking water contaminated by arsenic.

A team of researchers has developed a biosensor that attaches to a phone and uses bacteria to detect unsafe arsenic levels.

Clean Water and Sanitation For All By 2030
The United Nations University (UNU) has published an online tool coinciding with World Water Day on the 22nd March to guide nations and help them achieve the sustainable development goal (SDG) target of clean water and sanitation for all by 2030.

‘Heavy metal water contamination has become a global health issue. However, a new study suggests that a smartphone test can now help millions of people avoid drinking contaminated arsenic water.’

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The device, developed at the University of Edinburgh, generates easy-to-interpret patterns, similar to volume-bars, which display the level of contamination.

A team of researchers believes there is an urgent need to provide simple, affordable, on-site solutions for contaminated water sources.

In resource-limited countries, there is a lack of sufficiently skilled personnel and healthcare facilities to test water for contamination.

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The research team say new devices could replace existing tests, which are difficult to use, need specialist laboratory equipment and can produce toxic chemicals.

The contamination of water by heavy metals is a worldwide health issue. UNICEF reports that arsenic-contaminated drinking water is consumed by more than 140 million people worldwide.

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Researchers have now developed a new model to help predict the presence of arsenic in groundwater in regions prone to water contamination

The research team tested the arsenic sensors using environment samples from affected wells in Bangladesh, which suffers from some of the world's highest levels of arsenic-contaminated groundwater.

An estimated 20 million people in Bangladesh - mostly rural poor - drink contaminated water.

Now Technology can Remove Arsenic, Iron from Water
Researchers from Assam have invented a simple technology that together removes arsenic and iron from contaminated water at less than one paisa per litre.

Long-term exposure to unsafe levels of arsenic leads to skin lesions and cancers and is linked to 20 percent of all deaths in the worst-affected regions.

Researchers developed the biosensor by manipulating the genetic code of the bacteria Escherichia coli. They added genetic components to act as amplifiers when arsenic is detected.

Water samples were fed into a plastic device containing bacteria suspended in a gel. This produced fluorescent proteins that were visible in the presence of arsenic.

The research team believes that the approach could be used to detect other environmental toxins, diagnose diseases and locate landmines.

Source-Eurekalert