Detection of toxic compounds in real water samples using a conductometric tyrosinase biosensor

A conductometric tyrosinase biosensor for the detection of some toxic compounds including diuron, atrazine, and copper ions was developed. The work of this biosensor is based on the principle of change of conductivity of the enzyme membrane when tyrosinase either interacts with 4-chlorophenol substrate or is inhibited by pollutants. The different samples tested were solutions containing diuron, atrazine, copper, lead and zinc ions, mixtures of copper/atrazine or copper/diuron and real water samples coming from a Vietnamese river. In the last case, classical techniques such as GC-MS or atomic absorption spectrometry were used in order to estimate exact concentration of these species in real water samples. Results have shown that such a biosensor could be used as an early warning system for the detection of these pollutants, as no matrix effect coming from the real sample was observed and no synergetic or antagonist effects were found for the mixture of toxic compounds. In addition, results were coherent with the content of the tyrosinase inhibitors.