Development of a portable arsenite sensor for detecting arsenic-contaminated water

Millennium Development Goal 7c - to reduce by half the 4 billion people without sustainable access to safe drinking water - has acted as an impetus for the rapid growth in water quality field-testing in developing countries, where the adage ‘what you cannot measure, you cannot manage’ is apt. The WHO/UNICEF Monitoring Programme requires the testing of arsenic as one of the five core chemicals to be tested, as it is naturally found in aquifers on a global scale and is toxic even at extremely low levels (10 parts per billion). Using a unique enzyme, this project innovatively modifies the technology contained in familiar glucose home tests manufactured in the billions each year, to create a step-change improvement in arsenic testing by solving customer usability, cost and accuracy needs. Millions of users have demonstrated the ease-of-use of glucose tests; now similar technology can be used to transform arsenic testing, resulting in a significant benefit.