Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Screening Dioxin Soil Contamination by Uncontrolled Combustion During Informal Recycling in Slums

• Uncontrolled combustion due to garbage recycling is a widespread activity among slum dwellers in distressed economy countries, and has been indicated as a major source of dioxin contamination. However, due to the high cost and complexity of gas chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (GC-HRMS) analysis, the magnitude of the problem remains largely unknown. This work describes a first approach towards the use of a dioxin antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) as the basis for a sustainable, simple, and low cost monitoring program to assess the toxicological impact of uncontrolled combustion in slums. A panel of sixteen samples was analyzed by GC-HRMS and ELISA on split extracts. Close to 20 % of the analyzed samples showed dioxin concentrations up to almost twice the guidance level for residential soil in several countries, pointing out the need for performing a large-scale monitoring program. Despite the potential for variations in dioxin congener distribution due to the mixed nature of the incinerated material, there was a good correlation between the toxic equivalents as determined by GC-HRMS and ELISA. Furthermore, an inter-laboratory ELISA validation showed that the capacity to perform the dioxin ELISA was successfully transferred between laboratories. It was concluded that the ELISA method performed very well as a screening tool to prioritize samples for instrumental analysis, which allows cutting down costs significantly.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans

immunoassays

dioxin

slum contamination

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)