BENZENE RISC - AN IMMUNOASSAY FOR DETECTING 500 PARTS-PER-BILLION BENZENE IN WATER

Immunoassay technology has become an important tool in the assessment and remediation of hazardous materials in the environment. Benzene, a hazardous aromatic compound noticeably soluble in water, is found prim arily in petroleum sources and as a feed-stock in the manufacturing of a number of products including nylon and styrene, The United States E nvironmental Protection Agency (USEPA) considers benzene a carcinogen and current regulations are set at 500 parts per billion (ppb) for was tewater discharge. Current detection methods (gas chromatography and l iquid chromatography) are laborious, time consuming, and expensive. Th e benzene molecule is considered in a class of compounds that are inco mpatible with the development of an immunoassay method because of its unremarkable structure and size. By developing unique sample processin g and immunochemical procedures and reagents, the technical limitation s to an immunoassay for benzene have been overcome. An enzyme-linked i mmunosorbent assay kit that is rapid, simple, sensitive, cost effectiv e, and used on site has been developed for the detection of 500 ppb be nzene in water.