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expensive, sensitive, and labour intensive, and it requires sample purification step
before chromatographic analysis. Microbial biosensors are the promising approaches
for the detection of hazardous compounds. In this chapter, bacterial biosensors for
identification of persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals in water samples are
discussed in detail.
Keywords Biosensor · Chromatography · Pollutants · Heavy metals · Persistent
organic pollutant · Reporter protein · Genetically modified biosensor · Gas
chromatography · High performance liquid chromatography
4.1 Introduction
The rapid urbanization and industrialization increases pollutants in the environment. They form diverse collections of chemical substances, such as pharmaceuticals (human, veterinary, and illicit), personal care products (diethyltoluamide,
parabens, and triclosan), flame-retardants (triazole, alkyl phosphates, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers), pesticides (parathion and chlorpyrifos), hormones (estradiol and cholesterol), surfactants (Alkyl ethoxylate), and industrial additive agents
as well as their transformation products. These substances have been detected in
surface water, drinking water, groundwater, sludge, soil, sediment, aquatic environment, atmosphere, fish, and human blood can be contaminated with nanogram to
milligram/litre. Figure 4.1 illustrates the sources and exposure of organic pollutants.
4.1.1 Pollutants: Introduction and Threats
There are thousands of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which include aldrin,
chlordane, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, dioxins/furans, phthalates and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, and endosulfan (alpha and beta), often coming from certain
series of chemicals. In 2009, perfluorinated (particularly, perfluorooctanoic acid
(PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS)) compound has been classified
under persistent organic pollutants, and these compounds differ from each other by
the level of the fluorine atom and its position (Post et al. 2012). The main sources of
these pollutants in the environment are due to disposal of agrochemicals and industrial chemicals and improper management of solid waste in developed and developing countries. Persistent organic pollutants remain in the environment and accumulate
in human tissues. Therefore, they may create impact on human health and cause
adverse and toxic effects that inhibit human intercellular communication and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage (Wilson et al. 2016). The World Health Organization
(WHO) guidelines recommended for the human exposure on permissible limits and
toxicity of persistent organic pollutants are given in Table 4.1. The WHO and United
S. Ganesan and N. Vasudevan
expensive, sensitive, and labour intensive, and it requires sample purification step
before chromatographic analysis. Microbial biosensors are the promising approaches
for the detection of hazardous compounds. In this chapter, bacterial biosensors for
identification of persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals in water samples are
discussed in detail.
Keywords Biosensor · Chromatography · Pollutants · Heavy metals · Persistent
organic pollutant · Reporter protein · Genetically modified biosensor · Gas
chromatography · High performance liquid chromatography
4.1 Introduction
The rapid urbanization and industrialization increases pollutants in the environment. They form diverse collections of chemical substances, such as pharmaceuticals (human, veterinary, and illicit), personal care products (diethyltoluamide,
parabens, and triclosan), flame-retardants (triazole, alkyl phosphates, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers), pesticides (parathion and chlorpyrifos), hormones (estradiol and cholesterol), surfactants (Alkyl ethoxylate), and industrial additive agents
as well as their transformation products. These substances have been detected in
surface water, drinking water, groundwater, sludge, soil, sediment, aquatic environment, atmosphere, fish, and human blood can be contaminated with nanogram to
milligram/litre. Figure 4.1 illustrates the sources and exposure of organic pollutants.
4.1.1 Pollutants: Introduction and Threats
There are thousands of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which include aldrin,
chlordane, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, dioxins/furans, phthalates and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, and endosulfan (alpha and beta), often coming from certain
series of chemicals. In 2009, perfluorinated (particularly, perfluorooctanoic acid
(PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS)) compound has been classified
under persistent organic pollutants, and these compounds differ from each other by
the level of the fluorine atom and its position (Post et al. 2012). The main sources of
these pollutants in the environment are due to disposal of agrochemicals and industrial chemicals and improper management of solid waste in developed and developing countries. Persistent organic pollutants remain in the environment and accumulate
in human tissues. Therefore, they may create impact on human health and cause
adverse and toxic effects that inhibit human intercellular communication and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage (Wilson et al. 2016). The World Health Organization
(WHO) guidelines recommended for the human exposure on permissible limits and
toxicity of persistent organic pollutants are given in Table 4.1. The WHO and United
S. Ganesan and N. Vasudevan