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Detection of Lead in River Water Samples Applying Cantilever Nanobiosensor

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Abstract

Contamination of water sources with lead has been a problem because it is a toxic heavy metal. Detection and monitoring are important for both the environment and human health. In this paper, we present an application of cantilever nanobiosensors that can detect contamination traces of lead (Pb) in real river water samples. The urease and alkaline phosphatase enzymes are used in the device as a biological element with high sensitivity in Pb detection. By change in deflection of the cantilever nanobiosensor in contact with the liquid solution (water), the response was the detection of trace amounts of Pb in water. When using ultrapure water (white), the nanobiosensors did not demonstrate voltage response. The detection limit was in femtograms per milliliter (parts per trillion) for phosphatase alkaline and urease nanobiosensors with good recovery results. The matrix effect was minimized with the dilution of river water in the ratio 1:1 with the working solution. The nanobiosensors demonstrated are efficient in the detection of the presence of Pb in real samples. Thus, the developed cantilever nanobiosensors showed suitability for heavy metal detection in water and could be a promising tool in the environmental area.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (Capes) Financial code 001Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS), Studies and Projects Funding (Finep), and Regional Integrated University of Upper Uruguai and Missions - URI and Brazilian Company of Farming Research (Embrapa) for their financial and structure support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Engineering, URI - Erechim Campus, Av. Site de Setembro, 1621, Erechim, RS, 99709-910, Brazil

    Aline Andressa Rigo, Alana Marie de Cezaro, Janine Martinazzo, Sandra Ballen, Juliana Steffens & Clarice Steffens

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Univates, Lajeado, RS, Brazil

    Lucélia Hoehne

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  1. Aline Andressa Rigo
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  2. Alana Marie de Cezaro
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  3. Janine Martinazzo
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Correspondence to Clarice Steffens.

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Rigo, A.A., de Cezaro, A.M., Martinazzo, J. et al. Detection of Lead in River Water Samples Applying Cantilever Nanobiosensor. Water Air Soil Pollut 231, 186 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-04562-6

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