Rapid Biomonitoring of Volatile Toxins in Human Samples (BIO-VOTO)

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Biomonitoring measures chemicals and their metabolites in a personandapos s biological samples such as blood or urine It indicates the amount of exposure to chemicals by humans from breathing touching and ingestion combined from sources including but not limited to air soil water dust and food Through the National Biomonitoring Program NBP and The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey the CDC has established gold standard methods to measure over chemicals and nutritional markers in blood serum urine breast milk and meconium However a portable and versatile system is needed to analyze multiple analytes from similar range of samples at the point of sample collection to significantly increase detection accuracy Additionally alternative lower cos method is needed to allow large population epidemiology studies in order to verify current standards and if necessary formulate new guidelines for exposure We designed an integrated instrument to detect volatile toxin in human samples for rapid biomonitoring that can measure Volatile Organic Compounds VOCs concentration in biological samples with a portable low cost deployable device with the sensitivity and specificity similar to a bench top GC MS gold standard system In preliminary studies we have demonstrated the novel concept of the device and its ability to accurately measure volatile organics in human plasma The project milestone for successful completion is the demonstration of a statistically significant correlation of device readout with standard measures of GC MS in a double blind study To achieve this goal we will build upon our prototype device which has shown significant sensitivity in rapidly detecting organic compounds in plasma by implementing software and hardware changes that would lead to sensitivities and specificities that would enable the measurement of trace biomonitor of VOCs Successful completion of this work will allow us to proceed to more rigorous testing of the proposed device for ultimate use in biomonitor of VOCs and other toxins in a variety of human samples PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE Chromo Logic proposes a novel integrated device for rapid biomonitoring of volatile toxins in human samples The integrated system will allow biomonitoring of VOC concentration in blood with a portable low cost deployable device with the sensitivity and specificity similar to a benchtop GC MS gold standard system Successful completion of this work will allow us to proceed to more rigorous testing of the proposed device for ultimate use in biomonitor of VOCs and other environmental toxins in a variety of human samples