Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Mobile Analytical Platform for Lead Detection in Drinking Water
EPA Contract Number: EPD17042Title: Mobile Analytical Platform for Lead Detection in Drinking Water
Investigators: Hill, William C
Small Business: NanoSafe, Inc.
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: I
Project Period: September 1, 2017 through February 28, 2018
Project Amount: $99,934
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase I (2017) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) , SBIR - Water
Description:
As recent crises in Flint, Michigan and Washington D.C. have demonstrated, elevated lead levels (ELL’s) can very suddenly and unexpectedly be introduced to water supplies through seemingly unrelated water system alterations. Ingestion of even trace amounts of lead can have detrimental permanent health effects, especially in children; the public is rightly concerned about lead content in the water they drink.
Consumers are looking for more reliable, in-home methods capable of detecting lead concentrations above the EPA action level of 15ppb. Unfortunately, current in-home strip-style tests have proven wildly inaccurate, as they cannot detect commonly-occurring particulate lead and often produce results that are contrary to laboratory assessments. Other lead detection products, such as those utilizing anodic stripping voltammetry, are also specific to soluble lead and furthermore cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, leaving expensive and slow laboratory testing the only viable solution for this high-demand service.
NanoSafe demonstrated the technical feasibility of a new lead testing platform during Phase I to fill this societal market need: the Mobile Analytical Platform (LeadMAPTM). During the course of the Phase I project, the innovation was tested in its ability to consistently detect lead in water at various concentrations around the EPA action level, to detect lead in both soluble and insoluble forms across a range of compounds, and to detect lead specifically without interference from other metals or compounds that may be present in a consumer’s water. Furthermore, while most current lead testing products only measure a few milliliters of water or less, the LeadMAPTM is capable of sampling 100mL or more per test, reducing the chances of “missing” lead present in the tested water. Additional commercial considerations were explored including manufacturing cost, recyclability, and other product life cycle concerns. Upon completion of the primary Phase I development effort, the LeadMAPTM was challenged against the current leading at-home lead screening product as well as reviewed by a small-scale consumer focus group for design and usability feedback.
Ultimately, the LeadMAPTM is designed to provide enhanced screening and semi-quantitative measurement of water lead content that is simple enough for the average homeowner to use. Current dip-strip lead screening tests provide a “yes/no” answer regarding the presence of lead in concentrations above the 15ppb action level, but can be ambiguous to read and are often inaccurate. Other methods employing spectroscopy or electrochemistry can provide accurate measurements of soluble lead concentration, but cannot detect particulate lead and are too expensive for homeowner use. The LeadMAPTM aims to provide semi-quantitative, unambiguous measurement of total lead content (both soluble and insoluble) in water at a similar price point as the common dip-strip lead screening tests sold in hardware stores today.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The LeadMAPTM exceeded expectations for its Phase I feasibility demonstration. A summary of the Phase I targets and a description of the actual Phase I outcomes are succinctly listed below:
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Lead Detection Limit: The Phase I target milestone was to provide clear indication of lead concentrations near the EPA action level of 15ppb. By the end of the effort, the LeadMAPTM proved capable of detecting and approximately quantifying lead at concentrations as low as 9ppb (with a separate design iteration detecting lead around 2ppb that may be developed as a separate product in the LeadMAPTM line).
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Inclusivity: Only soluble lead in the form of the Pb(II) ion was expected to be detected in the Phase I effort, as is comparable to the capabilities of current commercial products. However, the Phase I prototype of the LeadMAPTM was able to detect dilute amounts of five different water-borne lead compounds of varying solubilities and oxidation states including particulate elemental lead.
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Specificity: The Phase I target did not address the ability of the innovation to prevent false positives (i.e. detect compounds other than lead, which could confuse identification of elevated lead), as this milestone was slated for Phase II and future development after initial demonstration. Nevertheless, the LeadMAPTM was challenged against water containing a variety of common minerals and was shown to be specific to the detection of lead in the presence of over a dozen potential interferents such as calcium, barium, strontium, iron, and copper.
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Competitiveness: It was hoped that the LeadMAPTM could perform on-par with current dip-strip style lead screening tests by the end of Phase I (i.e. indicate the presence of soluble lead in excess of 15ppb with marginal repeatability). The LeadMAPTM reliably provided indication of excess lead in both soluble and insoluble forms, even indicating ICP-MS-verified excess lead in water that was deemed “negative” for lead by the leading lead screening product.
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Affordability: The target cost per test for the Phase I prototype was $2/test. Estimates from a toll manufacturer place the production cost of the current LeadMAPTM prototype at $0.29 per test, with an entire kit including enough materials for 5 lead detection tests to be manufacturable for around $1.45.
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Environmentally Friendly: No specific Phase I target was set for the recyclability or environmental safety of the product. The current kit is 93% recyclable by weight, with only 5% designated for waste (the remainder is consumed during testing).
Conclusions:
It is vital that consumers have access to an affordable and accurate lead detection product. Elevated lead events have not appeared to decrease despite increased public awareness of the dangers and occurrence of ingestible lead; without an effective tool available to measure water supplies, consumers are powerless to protect themselves and their families.
The initial LeadMAPTM design was unable to detect lead at the low concentrations surrounding the EPA action level of 15ppb. However, the EPA SBIR Phase I funding provided the needed development resources to overcome early barriers, resulting in a highly successful and commercially viable prototype, exemplifying the value of the SBIR program. The final LeadMAPTM prototype met and exceeded every Phase I milestone, providing accurate detection of total lead content around the EPA action level of 15ppb without interference from other compounds present in the tested water. Continued development will further improve and challenge the detection limits, resolution, and specificity of the semi-quantitative LeadMAPTM platform as well as shift focus toward final manufacturing considerations and field testing of the device in real-world scenarios.
SBIR Phase II:
Mobile Analytical Platform for Lead Detection in Drinking Water | Final ReportThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.