Department of Sciences, John Jay College and the Graduate Center, The City University of New York, NY 10019, USA.
State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Integrated Surface Water-Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China; Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS), The University of Queensland, QLD 4102, Australia.
J Environ Sci (China). 2023 Mar;125:453-469. doi: 10.1016/j.jes.2022.01.034. Epub 2022 Feb 3.
Approximately 94 to 220 million people worldwide are at risk of drinking well water containing arsenic > 10 µg/L, the WHO guideline value. To identify non-compliant domestic wells, assess health risks and reduce exposure, accurate and rapid on-site inorganic arsenic screening methods are desirable because all domestic wells worldwide need to be tested. Here, the principles, advantages and limitations of commonly used colorimetry, electrochemistry, and biosensing methods are critically reviewed, with the performance compared with laboratory-based benchmark methods. Most commercial kits are based on the classic Gutzeit reaction. Despite being semi-quantitative, the more recent and more expensive products display improved and acceptable accuracy and shorter testing time (∼10 min). Carried out by trained professionals, electrochemical methods are also feasible for on-site analysis, although miniaturization is desirable yet challenging. Biosensing using whole bacterial cells or bio-engineered materials such as aptamers is promising, if incorporated with function specific nanomaterials and biomaterials. Since arsenic is frequently found as arsenite in reducing groundwater and subject to oxidation during sampling, transportation and storage, on-site separation and sample preservation are feasible but the specific methods should be chosen based on sample matrix and tested before use. To eliminate arsenic exposure among hundreds of millions of mostly rural residents worldwide, we call for concerted efforts in research community and regulatory authority to develop accurate, rapid, and affordable tests for on-site screening and monitoring of arsenic in drinking water. Access to affordable testing will benefit people who are socioeconomically disadvantaged.
全世界约有 9400 万至 2.2 亿人面临饮用水中砷含量超过 10μg/L（世界卫生组织指导值）的风险。为了识别不符合标准的家用井、评估健康风险并降低暴露风险，需要准确、快速的现场无机砷筛选方法，因为全世界所有的家用井都需要进行测试。本文批判性地综述了常用比色法、电化学法和生物传感方法的原理、优点和局限性，并将其性能与基于实验室的基准方法进行了比较。大多数商业试剂盒基于经典的 Gutzeit 反应。尽管是半定量的，但最近和更昂贵的产品显示出改进和可接受的准确性和更短的测试时间（约 10 分钟）。经过训练有素的专业人员进行电化学方法也可用于现场分析，尽管小型化是可取的，但具有挑战性。使用完整细菌细胞或适体等生物工程材料的生物传感方法很有前途，如果与功能特定的纳米材料和生物材料结合使用。由于砷在还原地下水中通常以亚砷酸盐的形式存在，并且在采样、运输和储存过程中容易氧化，因此现场分离和样品保存是可行的，但应根据样品基质选择具体方法，并在使用前进行测试。为了消除全世界数以亿计的主要是农村居民的砷暴露，我们呼吁研究界和监管机构共同努力，开发用于现场筛选和监测饮用水中砷的准确、快速且经济实惠的测试方法。获得负担得起的测试将使社会经济处于不利地位的人受益。
