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Project A: Developing a color sensor for organophosphorus pesticides in potable water
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Written by: Prof. Raz Jelinek Dr. Shai Ezra, Mr. Sivan Bleich
Project A: Developing a color sensor for organophosphorus pesticides in potable water
This project is funded by the NOFAR program at the Office of the Chief Scientist. NOFAR is largely geared to support activities at the academic institutes. In the present study, research is led by Prof. Raz Jelinek of Ben Gurion University.
Defining the problem: there are serious public-health and indirect financial implications to organophosphorus contamination of drinking water, whether the contamination is malicious or accidental.
It is therefore imperative to be able to confirm or rule out suspected contamination as soon as possible, which means having tests that are reliable and have low detection thresholds. Our goal is to improve the existing testing tools currently at our disposal.
Study goals: This study aims to develop a sensor for organophosphorus contaminants in water, ultimately achieving detection at concentrations lower than 1ppm. At such low concentrations, and given relatively short exposure times, no acute impact is expected.
The polymer-based sensor is designed to show a visible color change on detection so that it can be used for passive monitoring (dip in water and wait for change in color to appear within a predefined space of time), and will not require any chemical processing by technical or qualified staff. The sensor will be reliable and simple so that it can be deployed across the water network, in pipelines, and at end-user site.
The sensor platform is based on a polymer system developed in Prof. Jelineks lab. The lab has already provided a proof of concept, by demonstrating a color-change reaction in the polymer following exposure to organophosphates in water.
Expected benefits: this study aims to develop a novel technological solution that will comply with the existing requirements for monitoring organophosphates in water, will be simple to operate, and give instant readings.
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