On-Site Detection of Benzo(a)pyrene in Water and Soil - Project Summary
Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) is universally present in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon mixtures and is
listed as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Among the
current 1317 Superfund sites on the National Priorities List as of February 2017, and BaP has
been found at 524 sites. There is an urgent need for development of a novel onsite assay for
rapid, sensitive, reliable and cost-effective identification and quantification of BaP in soil and water
at Superfund sites. In this project, Ocean NanoTech proposes to develop and commercialize a
quantum dot-based quantitative FRET (QFRET) immunoassay for fast on-site detection of BaP.
Compared to the existing technologies, the proposed platform assay will possess the following
advanced attributes: high sensitivity, high specificity, fieldability, fast detection (minutes vs days
for lab test), ease of operation (wash-free, mix-and-read), and low operation cost. An anticipated
product will be an evaluation kit including reagents, glass or plastic tubes, and a compact
photoluminescent reader. The goal of Phase I is to demonstrate the feasibility of this novel assay
platform. In Phase II, one of the aims will be to design a compact and inexpensive reader for on-
site detection.
