The combination of pollutants such as pesticides, drug residues and other waste can create a potentially dangerous ‘cocktail effect’.
An EU consortium is developing a new ‘super sensor’ to track invisible pollutants such as petrochemicals and pesticides in lakes, rivers, and oceans.
The project, titled IBAIA, has received more than €4.6m in funding from the European Commission to create a multi-sensing platform using lasers and electrochemistry to detect these pollutants in real time.
Industrial and agricultural activities release a complex mix of chemical pollutants into rivers and coastal waters, threatening ecosystems and water quality.
A report last year from the Environmental Protection Agency warned that Ireland’s water quality was not improving on previous years and that a significant number of Ireland’s bodies of water have too much nitrogen and phosphate, which can harm fish populations.
Other contaminants such as hydrocarbons and drug residues can also pollute water and their combination can create a ‘cocktail effect’ which could harm the environment and our health.
Water quality testing has previously relied on laboratory analysis on samples using complex techniques such as mass spectrometry and chromatography. While highly accurate, this method is slow and expensive.
Radwan Chahal, IBAIA’s project manager said this new sensing technology could become the “gold standard” in water monitoring at a time when environmental water pollution is such an “urgent yet overlooked crises”.
The IBAIA’s multi-sensing system uses a blend of photonics and electrochemical sensors to detect pollutants that current technologies may miss. The sensors also provide real-time, in-situ data, allowing for swift intervention.
Izabella Otalega, research and innovation manager at Modus Research and Innovation, one of the participating organisations on the project, said this means pollution can be intercepted before it spreads and environmental agencies can act before contamination spirals into crisis. “In a world where toxic spills and chemical leaks have often been discovered only when it’s too late, speed and accuracy are essential,” she said.
The platform uses mid-infrared light to identify and measure organic chemicals in water, such as pesticides, industrial solvents and oil residues. It also uses visible and near-infrared light to detect microplastics, an Optode sensor to measure key physicochemical parameters such as pH, oxygen levels and temperature, and an electrochemical sensor to detect heavy metals and nutrient salts such as nitrate and phosphate.
The consortium is coordinated by Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France with input from several academic institutions, industry partners and environmental research organisations.
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