Developing New Fluorescent Sensors for the Detection of Harmful Heavy Metals in Water

Drinking water is a very valuable resource, and the UN estimates that 3.5 million people die per year due to inadequate water supply and sanitation. Common sources of water pollutants are heavy metal ions, such as mercury and lead. Even in small concentrations, these heavy metal ions can be very harmful to human life, causing acute and chronic toxicities of the liver, kidneys, and intestines, and also certain cancers. The aim of this project is to develop organic molecules that are capable of binding to these heavy metals. Upon binding selectively to these heavy metals, changes in fluorescence or color of the molecule will indicate both what type of ion is in the water source, and how much of that ion is present. This would be a very quick and simple test for the quality of water and would be very useful in determining the safety and potability of many water sources, especially those without access to higher-tech treatments and testing.