Biosensors for environmental applications

The high cost and slow turnaround times typically associated with the measurement of regulated pollutants clearly indicates a need for environmental screening and monitoring methods which are fast, portable, and cost-effective. To meet this need, a variety of field analytical methods have been introduced, a number of which are commercially available or under development. Because of their unique characteristics, however, technologies such as biosensors might be exploited to fill specific niche applications in the environmental monitoring area. Although the potential environmental market is large, there are a number of technical and commercial obstacles which must be addressed before biosensors or other field analytical technologies have a significant impact on environmental monitoring. Some of these obstacles include the large number of potential pollutants and broad range of their chemical classes; the broad range and complexity of environmental matrices; the variety of possible co-contaminants; the wide dynamic range of pollutant concentrations; lack of well-established data quality expectations by potential users; lack of sufficient markets for specific applications; and regulatory acceptance requirements. This paper will focus primarily on challenges and possible opportunities for the development of biosensors for environmental monitoring applications.