Bioluminescent bioreporter pad biosensor for monitoring water toxicity

• Biosensor for real time water toxicity monitoring was created.
• New design allows simple and fast end-users operation.
• New design's replaceable part is cheaper than previously.
• New setup showed its capabilities to determined the water toxicity of the real water environmental samples.

Toxicants in water sources are of concern. We developed a tool that is affordable and easy-to-use for monitoring toxicity in water. It is a biosensor composed of disposable bioreporter pads (calcium alginate matrix with immobilized bacteria) and a non-disposable CMOS photodetector. Various parameters to enhance the sensor's signal have been tested, including the effect of alginate and bacterium concentrations. The effect of various toxicants, as well as, environmental samples were tested by evaluating their effect on bacterial luminescence. This is the first step in the creation of a sensitive and simple operative tool that may be used in different environments.

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