Contents



Preface

Expanding industrial production along with the world's growing population, which increases by more than 200,000 individuals per day, puts enormous pressure on the environment. Residues of manmade chemical compounds are everywhere; for example, recent reports indicate that hundreds of organohalogenide contaminants

There is an urgent need for continuous monitoring of numerous macro and micropollutants and their metabolites in order to cope with the potential threats of extensive exploitation of natural resources and the increasing number of synthetic compounds around. This monitoring is necessary for improving quality of life and for dealing with rising living standards. Currently the contaminants of greatest concern are various micropollutants, such as heavy metals and pesticides used in agricultural production as well as residues of all kinds of pharmaceuticals. A major global threat to public health is "microbiological contamination," that is, antibiotic-

resistant bacteria and fungi resulting from uncontrolled use of antibiotics.

and potential pollutants along with their metabolites is growing.

assessment of detrimental effects of pollutants.

potential application for automated online analyses.

Despite the growing need for quick and robust analytical information, we still lack methods for online, onsite automatic detection of contaminants allowing timely and effective management of abnormalities. Traditional analytical methods require sample collection and complex lab studies, taking several hours or even days to provide results. The development of new technologies, in particular various biosensing methods, potentially may allow for real-time, automated analyses in natural conditions with no prior treatment of samples. Although biosensor-based technologies require further efforts to become a serious alternative to standard methods, the number of solutions for the detection of minute residual concentrations of known

This book provides an overview of some of the latest trends in the development of biosensors for their application in environmental monitoring. It discusses different biosensor construction and signal-detection principles along with various sensing platforms and bio-recognition elements. In addition, it proposes algorithms to cope with the variability of analytical conditions and instability of environmental processes. Along with information on artificially constructed sensing systems, the book includes chapters dealing with natural "biosensor" organisms used for the

In addition, this book pays special attention to the analytical performance of biosensors, including their selectivity, sensitivity, and analysis time as well as their

**Toonika Rinken and Kairi Kivirand**

University of Tartu, Estonia

have been found in polar bear blood serum.
