Indication of environmental pollution with a device based on the principle of a biosensor

Environmental pollution is currently reaching such a level that systematic selective control of pollutants is almost impossible. On the other hand, in accordance with sustainable development, it is necessary to ensure a sufficiently high-quality environment for future generations. This is connected to the regular control of environmental components, which is currently implemented by classical analytical methods and toxicity tests. Assessing whether the environment at a certain location may pose a risk to living organisms is time-consuming and costly using classical methods. The necessity of quick and cheap control leads to the development of biological tests that are capable of detecting even unknown substances, the common feature of which is the measurement of toxic effects on organisms. The solution may be the application of biosensors, which can greatly simplify the measurement. The main advantage lies in the pre-selection of samples that will be sent for expensive and time-consuming certified analyses. This significantly reduces the cost and time required to obtain information of the same quality as classical measurements. Therefore, as part of the project TA02030179 "Integrated system for monitoring environmental contamination by transport", a device based on the principle of the AlgaTox biosensor indicating the environmental load with harmful substances was developed, which can significantly simplify the process of assessing the impact on living organisms. Its advantage is a quick response to measured values ​​(several hours) while maintaining the same predictive ability as classic laboratory procedures. The commonly used test for evaluating the inhibition of the growth of freshwater green algae defined by the ČSN EN ISO 8692 standard takes 72 hours (the procedure described in the methodology takes a few hours) and there is no specialized equipment for it. The methodology is designed as a detailed description of the application of the AlgaTox device developed as part of the above-mentioned project and contains an introduction to the issue of environmental pollution assessment using biosensor-based devices incl. a comparison of the novelty of the procedure with the information published so far, a description of the device, the principle of measurement, the measurement procedure and a substantial part is devoted to the evaluation of the results. The publication is the result of the solution of the research project TA02030179 "Integrated system for monitoring environmental contamination by transport", supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic in the ALFA program.