Development of a Screening Method for Sulfamethoxazole in Environmental Water by Digital Colorimetry Using a Mobile Device

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2022

Authors

Peixoto, PS (Author) Other; Carvalho, PH (Author) Other; Machado, A (Author) Other; Barreiros, L (Author) Other; Bordalo, AA (Author) Other; Oliveira, HP (Author) FCUP; Marcela A Segundo (Author) FFUP

Journal

The Journal is awaiting validation by the Administrative Services.

Title: Chemosensors

Vol. 10

Final page: 25

ISSN: 2227-9040

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 0 Citations

Scopus - 1 Citation

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00V-YE3

DOI: 10.3390/chemosensors10010025

Abstract (EN): Antibiotic resistance is a major health concern of the 21st century. The misuse of antibiotics over the years has led to their increasing presence in the environment, particularly in water resources, which can exacerbate the transmission of resistance genes and facilitate the emergence of resistant microorganisms. The objective of the present work is to develop a chemosensor for screening of sulfonamides in environmental waters, targeting sulfamethoxazole as the model analyte. The methodology was based on the retention of sulfamethoxazole in disks containing polystyrene divinylbenzene sulfonated sorbent particles and reaction with p-dimethylaminocinnamaldehyde, followed by colorimetric detection using a computer-vision algorithm. Several color spaces (RGB, HSV and CIELAB) were evaluated, with the coordinate a_star, from the CIELAB color space, providing the highest sensitivity. Moreover, in order to avoid possible errors due to variations in illumination, a color palette is included in the picture of the analytical disk, and a correction using the a_star value from one of the color patches is proposed. The methodology presented recoveries of 82-101% at 0.1 mu g and 0.5 mu g of sulfamethoxazole (25 mL), providing a detection limit of 0.08 mu g and a quantification limit of 0.26 mu g. As a proof of concept, application to in-field analysis was successfully implemented.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 12