The U.S. Army
Center for Environmental Health Research (USACEHR) and the United States Army
Medical Materiel Development Agency (USAMMDA) is developing toxicity sensors
for an Environmental Sentinel Biomonitor (ESB) system to provide rapid
identification of toxicity from a broad spectrum of industrial and agricultural
chemicals that may contaminate Army field drinking water supplies. Desirable performance characteristics for the
ESB system include a rapid response to a panel of 18 toxic industrial chemicals
(selected to represent different classes of chemicals) within a defined
sensitivity range, adequate shelf life for consumables, and size and weight
characteristics consistent with field portability.
The system has a combination of two technologies that can
detect all 18 chemicals, with 12 out of the 18 in the desired concentration
range, in less than 90 minutes. The sensors include an electric cell-substrate
impedance sensing (ECIS) system, which uses fluidic biochips seeded with
rainbow trout gill epithelial cells (designed through a collaboration with
Agave Biosystems, Inc.), and the ACE™ Test for the detection of
acetylcholinesterase pesticides (designed through a collaboration with ANP
Technologies, Inc.). The ECIS biochips can be maintained at least one year at 6
°C with no media replacement and still remain viable for ECIS toxicity testing,
while the reagents for the HHA kit have a projected shelf life of more than 12
months at room temperature.
Each sensor prototype is available as a hand-held unit. The compact sizes, long, maintenance-free shelf lives, and chemical sensitivity of the these technologies make them excellent candidates for an ESB system that will provide a significant improvement over current capabilities for identifying chemically-contaminated field drinking water supplies.
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