This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts and torrential rains, affect water quality in lakes, rivers and coastal areas. This creates significant challenges for ecosystems and water supplies because pesticides bound in soil can quickly leach into water sources.
Now, researchers want to monitor this in a new way. "Today's monitoring systems aren't equipped to detect rapid variations. This leaves critical gaps in environmental protection and public health preparedness.
The goal of the project, called STARDUST, is to develop an optical sensor system that can detect multiple pesticides in real time in both surface water and groundwater," says Elizaveta Vereshchagina, a senior research scientist in SINTEF's Department of Smart Sensors and Microtechnology, Norway. The technology will provide insight into how extreme weather affects the occurrence of pesticides in water. It is being developed with interdisciplinary collaborators from Norway, Romania, Poland, Ireland and Denmark.
When researchers want to examine water samples after heavy rainfall, they need to collect the samples immediately. This is logistically challenging. STARDUST has therefore engaged citizen scientists in Denmark and Ireland, who collect water samples during periods of significant rainfall.
These water samples are important for gaining insight into the connection between extreme weather conditions and water quality. "We create references at our site and also have the samples sent to Oslo so that we can test our sensor technology in the laboratory. We've managed to measure different types of pesticides in water using SERS technology, which provides a fast response.
The hope is that we can physically bring this type of sensor technology to water sources in the future," says research colleague and project leader Karolina Milenko. SERS stands for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. The method boosts light signals from molecules, making them easier to measure.
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