Researchers from the Hebrew University have developed a method for quick and efficient monitoring of substances harmful to humans in sewage water and other environmental samples * Prof. Shimshon Belkin and his group developed through genetic engineering a series of cellular sensors, which become luminous in the presence of substances that disrupt hormonal activity or substances that damage the genetic material of the cell
Prof. Shimshon Belkin and his group developed through genetic engineering a series of cellular sensors, which become luminous in the presence of substances that disrupt hormonal activity or substances that damage the genetic material of the cell
Wastewater treatment is a process of removing pollutants, chemicals and bacteria that are dangerous to humans from sewage water, with the aim of turning it into effluent water, which can be reused in agriculture or discharged into streams. Wastewater purification is an important and necessary process, because even if there is no intention to reuse the water, it is desirable to avoid the penetration of the harmful substances into the environment or the groundwater. Since environmental samples, such as wastewater (but also seawater, soil and air), usually contain a huge number of components, their chemical analysis is complicated, expensive and lengthy - and often ineffective. In principle, the analysis can be made much more efficient if we focus only on the toxic components of the sample.
Assessing the health risk of substances found in sewage
The group of Prof. Shimshon Belkin, from the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at the Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University, in collaboration with researchers from the Federal Institute of Hydrology in Germany, developed a series of cellular sensors to detect two groups of environmental pollutants - substances that disrupt hormonal activity and substances that damage the genetic material of the cell, and demonstrated with their help the detection of substances from both The groups in wastewater samples before and after treatment.
Using biological tests on environmental samples, Allows to isolate only the toxic components of the sample from all its components by examining its biological activity, without careful analysis of its chemical composition. Samson Belkin: "The conventional wastewater treatment systems remove a significant part of the pollutants, but not all, and remnants of such substances find their way into the environment. Biological monitoring methods (which ask the question "what is the biological effect of the sample" and not just "what is the chemical composition of the sample") are very important in detecting these substances and assessing their risk."
The method developed by the researchers is a combination of two research approaches and is performed in two simple steps. In the first step, the sample is separated into its components on a silica-coated glass plate (thin layer chromatography, TLC). In the second step, the board is sprayed with a culture of microorganisms (bacteria, algae or yeast), which have been genetically engineered to produce an optical signal in the presence of substances with harmful biological activity, for example damage to hormonal activity or DNA. After a few hours, "spots" with harmful activity will be distinguished from the rest of the sample components by the fact that they will be painted a different color or, for example, will glow with blue light.
Prof. Belkin on the importance of the research: "Studies of this type are important in expanding the pool of methods that can be used to monitor the presence of toxic substances in the environment," explains Prof. Belkin. "In Germany, methods similar to these are already in regular use, and others are under review to incorporate them into environmental quality regulations."
The study was published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety and funded by a grant for research in water technology shared by the Ministry of Science and Technology in Israel with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
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