Comparison of Cell-Based Biosensors with Traditional Analytical Techniques for Cytotoxicity Monitoring and Screening of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Environment

Abstract

Today, special attention is paid to the environmental pollution effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are carcinogenic and mutagenic compounds. They are also widely distributed in the environment and can be found in water, soil, and plants. For this reason, various technologies have been developed to detect and screen for PAHs, and one of the recent developments is cell-based biosensors (CBBs). This type of sensor allows for real-time measurements by detecting the impedance of cellular behavior, which has been proven sensitive to toxic compounds. This articles presents a review of the previous work on CBBs for environmental monitoring of PAHs, in comparison with other conventional methods, which are based on chromatographic techniques and immunoassay.

Keywords:

• Cell-based biosensors
• chromatography
• cytotoxicity monitoring
• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Notes

^a GC-MS, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry; ELISA, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay; FD, fluorescence detection; HPLC, high-performance liquid chromatography; and TD, thermal desorption.