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AN ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION (ETV) TESTING OF THREE IMMUNOASSAY TEST KITS FOR ANTHRAX, BOTULINUM TOXIN AND RICIN
Citation:
BATTELLE MEMORIAL INSTITUTE, M. SCHROCK, R. JAMES, A. DINDAL, Z. WILLENBURG, AND K. RIGGS. AN ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION (ETV) TESTING OF THREE IMMUNOASSAY TEST KITS FOR ANTHRAX, BOTULINUM TOXIN AND RICIN. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-06/147 (NTIS PB2007-105370), 2006.
Impact/Purpose:
The overall objective of the ETV Program is to accelerate the entrance of new environmental technologies into the domestic and international marketplace by identifying the environmental performance characteristics of commercial-ready technology through the evaluation of objective and quality assured data. This provides the potential purchasers and permitters with an independent and credible assessment of what they are buying and/or permitting. The AMS Center has received funding to performance verify monitoring technologies relevant for homeland security.
Description:
Immunoassay test kits are based on immunoassay methods, where specific antibodies are used to detect and measure the contaminants of interest. Immunoassay test kits rely on the reaction of a contaminant or antigen with a selective antibody to give a product that can be measures. Many types of technologies involved enzymes, fluorescence, phosphorescence, electrochemiluminescence, and chemiluminescence, have been used for quantifying the assay. The sample concentration can be either directly or inversely proportional to color intensity, depending on the technology. Results from these methods can be qualitative or quantitative. While there are several types of immunoassays, enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assays are most common.
Of the three test kit technologies tested in the verification test, the QTL Biosystems, LLC's QTL Biosensor technology uses an immunomagnetic technique which produces a magnetic and a fluorescent component, while the PharmaLeads's EzyBot uses a fluorescence quenching technology. The BioVeris Corporation's BioVerify test kit uses an electrochemical stimulated technology. These three technologies do not all that the capabilities to detect all three of the tested contaminants.