LYNNTECH INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: A15-050

Description

The treatment of water with chlorine is an effective way to kill waterborne pathogens such as bacteria, parasites and viruses. This process, however, produces toxic byproducts from the chemical reaction between chlorine and natural organic matter usually referred as disinfection by-products (DBPs). The presence of DBPs in drinking water may not just cause an unpleasant organoleptic taste, but is also a matter of concern for human health. One of the most prevalent classes of DBPs, haloacetic acids (HAAs), is known to cause adverse health effects including cancer. Although, currently available standard equipment for analyzing DBPs including HAAs are effectively accurate, they require highly skilled operators and are non-portable and costly, which makes them unsuitable for battlefield use. Commercially available portable chemical monitors on the other hand show insufficient levels of performance in terms of detection limits, sensitivity to interferences and/or are entirely non-specific. Hence, detection of trace levels of DBPs in the field still remains a significant challenge. To address the need Lynntech proposes to develop a simple rugged and portable device based on microfluidic traveling wave electrophoresis combined with a miniature UV detection system for monitoring DBPs in the field.