Georgia is developing a novel arsenic detection method for drinking water, based on hydrogels made from an abundant biopolymer called chitosan. Their goal is to work towards an affordable colorimetric field-testing method, that can test waters in rural and marginalized communities for arsenic contamination.

Access to safe drinking water remains a major public health issue for billions of people across the globe. Out of the different challenges in drinking water research, heavy metal contamination has well-known detrimental and chronic health effects. Notably, arsenic poses several risks to an estimated 150 million people worldwide. Drinking water with elevated levels above the World Health Organization’s recommended 10 parts per billion limit can cause skin lesions, adverse pregnancy outcomes and various types of cancer. Benchmark laboratory techniques, while accurate and sensitive, are not compatible with rapid, on-site monitoring, motivating the creation of field-testing methods. To date, most commercially available test kits require skilled operators due to the inclusion of toxic reagents and have reported accuracy and repeatability concerns, limiting their use in low-resource contexts.

Georgia is working to address this research gap. Their approach would generate a colorimetric detection method for arsenic, similar to a pH test for swimming pools. Georgia intends to revive and modernize a centuries old colorimetric reaction and develop a low-cost, easy-to-use, and accurate detection method for low levels of the heavy metal in drinking water. Georgia has first developed a synthesis method for a hydrogel-based sensor, made of chitosan, an abundant biopolymer derived from arthropod exoskeletons, chosen for its low cost and low environmental impact over most synthetic polymers. Following this stage, Georgia intends to
optimize the hydrogel to act as an arsenic sensor, employing Design-of-Experiment techniques to streamline the process.

Georgia’s research contributes to several of United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).