Microbial Sensor for Pah in Aqueous Solution Using Solubilizers

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are cancerogenic compounds which are ubiquitous and especially found in contaminated areas of former gasworks and coking plants. Whereas conventional analysis of PAH by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is laboratory based, expensive and time consuming, biosensors using microorganisms specialized in degradation of PAH may be an advantageous tool for rapid field screening of high sample numbers. The bacterial strain Sphingomonas yanoikuyae B1 (previously Sphingomonas sp. B1) can grow on mineral medium with PAH as the sole source of carbon. As naphthalene and phenanthrene are the most water soluble PAH, they are priority pollutants in aqueous solutions e.g. ground water. For that reason amperometric biosensors using immobilized S. yanoikuyae cells were developed for the determination of these PAH. To avoid analyte losses during sampling and measurement, aqueous PAH samples should be stabilized by surfactants or other additives that do not interfere with the sensor response.