Abstract |
An apparatus for the detection and monitoring of water supplies for hazardous spills of organophosphate and carbamate insecticides has been designed and fabricated. The new unit is called the Cholinesterase Antagonist Monitor, CAM-1, because it produces an alarm in 3 min. when toxic or subtoxic levels of cholinesterase antagonists are present in water. Response of this apparatus to subtoxic levels of azodrin, sevin, dimetilan, malathion, parathion and DDVP has already been demonstrated. CAM-1 uses immobilized cholinesterase for the collection of cholinesterase inhibitors from the water supplies. The activity of the immobilized cholinesterase is determined automatically in an electrochemical cell by passing a substrate solution over the enzyme at regular time periods. A minicomputer is used to automate the detection process and to signal an alarm. (Author) |