Rapid and Low-Cost Field Toxin Analysis to Monirot Harmful Algal Blooms

During the harmful algal blooms (HAB), marine algal toxins reach concentrations high enough to cause various neurological and gastrointestinal disorders through inhalation of the toxin or consumption of contaminated shellfish. Brevetoxins, produced by dinoflagellate Karenia brevis, are known to disrupt neurological processes to cause an illness called neurotoxic shellfish poisoning. The timely recognition of this toxin in marine environment is thus of great importance for human health. However, the toxic levels of brevetoxin are on the order of parts-per-billion (ppb), making its detection very difficult and costly using the current analytical methods and biological assays. Furthermore, the correlation of the brevetoxin levels with the amount of K. brevis is not straightforward, further complicating the assessment of conditions dangerous to humans. This project aims to develop a low-cost, handheld electrochemical sensor device that will enable measurement of brevetoxin levels with high sensitivity while lowering the field detection limits down to sub ppb levels via utilization of an analyte concentration method. An accurate assessment of sample toxicity will be demonstrated by combining the brevetoxin levels with toxic K. brevis cell amounts using a single detection platform that is simple.