SBIR-STTR Award

Safe & Cost Effective Water Remediation, Enabled By An Online Perchlorate Analyze
Award last edited on: 1/31/14

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
NIH : NIEHS
Total Award Amount
$1,064,048
Award Phase
2
Solicitation Topic Code
-----

Principal Investigator
Philippe Dekleva

Company Information

Advanced Microlabs LLC

PO Box 272908
Fort Collins, CO 80527
   (970) 402-4383
   N/A
   www.advancedmicrolabs.com
Location: Single
Congr. District: 04
County: Larimer

Phase I

Contract Number: 1R43ES017200-01
Start Date: 00/00/00    Completed: 00/00/00
Phase I year
2008
Phase I Amount
$120,837
This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I project will develop a prototype online perchlorate monitor for a resin bed perchlorate remediation reactor. The device will be have less than 4 ppb limit- of-detection, provide results in less than 3 min., and require only periodic microchip replacement as routine maintenance. Currently, perchlorate can only be detected below 10 ppb using laboratory based equipment requiring trained technicians and, most importantly, at least several hours of time, and therefore, impractical for online monitoring. The Henry Group at Colorado State University has recently demonstrated sub ppb perchlorate detection using a patent-pending lab-on-a-chip technology with results that include real water sample testing. This technology opens the door for online monitoring of perchlorate remediation operations, which will significantly reduce the costs. Entire resin beds costing $100k in materials and additional costs in disposal would no longer be needed. This Phase I proposal will: 1. Develop pumps, valves, instrumentation, etc. to assemble a field deployable device, 2. Optimize our microchip functions by incorporating a sample membrane barrier and assessing nonhazardous alternative internal standards, and 3. Method validation and field testing.

Public Health Relevance:
Human exposure to perchlorate is of concern because of the potential for impaired thyroid function, leading to a number of developmental delays and other medical problems. Its prevalence in the environment only gained interest in the late 1990's, once a method was developed for its detection at the 4 ppb level. In 2005 after being added to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR1) list, a sampling of 2800 large water systems and 800 smaller systems, representing less than 10% of all US water systems, revealed contamination in 153 sites over 25 states. As of 2005, 120 remediation projects were underway, including 15 superfund sites, costing hundred's of millions of dollars to fund, mostly coming from government coffers. Our online monitoring device will significantly reduce costs for remediation. In addition to lowering costs to existing remediation, it will also allow smaller communities address cleanup that would otherwise not have enough resources.

Public Health Relevance:
Narrative Human exposure to perchlorate is of concern because of the potential for impaired thyroid function, leading to a number of developmental delays and other medical problems. Its prevalence in the environment only gained interest in the late 1990's, once a method was developed for its detection at the 4 ppb level. In 2005 after being added to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR1) list, a sampling of 2800 large water systems and 800 smaller systems, representing less than 10% of all US water systems, revealed contamination in 153 sites over 25 states. As of 2005, 120 remediation projects were underway, including 15 superfund sites, costing hundred's of millions of dollars to fund, mostly coming from government coffers. Our online monitoring device will significantly reduce costs for remediation. In addition to lowering costs to existing remediation, it will also allow smaller communities address cleanup that would otherwise not have enough resources.

Project Terms:
Address; Air Bags; Airbags; Anions; Beds; Businesses; California; Chemistry; Child Development Disorders, Specific; Colorado; Coloring Agents; Communities; Coupled; Detection; Development; Developmental Delay; Developmental Delay Disorders; Devices; Dyes; EPA; Engineering; Engineerings; Environment; Environmental Protection Agency; Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.); Equipment; Event; Exposure to; Fertilizers; Flare; Funding; Generations; Government; Hour; Hydrogen Oxide; Instrumentation, Other; Lab On a Chip; Laboratories; Legal patent; Maintenance; Maintenances; Measurement; Measures; Medical; Membrane; Methods; Monitor; Operation; Operative Procedures; Operative Surgical Procedures; Paint; Particulate Matter; Patents; Perchlorates; Phase; Plant Resins; Power Sources; Power Supplies; Prevalence; Procedures; Process; Pump; Research Resources; Resins, Plant; Resources; Running; STTR; Sampling; Science of Chemistry; Series; Site; Small Business Technology Transfer Research; Solid; Source; Surface; Surgical; Surgical Interventions; Surgical Procedure; System; System, LOINC Axis 4; Technology; Technology Transfer; Testing; Thyroid Function Tests; Thyroid Gland Function Tests; Time; Training; United States Environmental Protection Agency; Universities; V (voltage); Validation; Water; Work; base; cost; design; designing; detector; drinking water; exposed human population; human exposure; instrument; instrumentation; interest; membrane structure; micro-total analysis system; microchip; monitoring device; mu-TAS; prototype; public health relevance; remediation; resin; superfund site; surgery; thyroid function; voltage; water sampling; water sampling/testing

Public Health Relevance Statement:
Narrative Human exposure to perchlorate is of concern because of the potential for impaired thyroid function, leading to a number of developmental delays and other medical problems. Its prevalence in the environment only gained interest in the late 1990's, once a method was developed for its detection at the 4 ppb level. In 2005 after being added to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR1) list, a sampling of 2800 large water systems and 800 smaller systems, representing less than 10% of all US water systems, revealed contamination in 153 sites over 25 states. As of 2005, 120 remediation projects were underway, including 15 superfund sites, costing hundred's of millions of dollars to fund, mostly coming from government coffers. Our online monitoring device will significantly reduce costs for remediation. In addition to lowering costs to existing remediation, it will also allow smaller communities address cleanup that would otherwise not have enough resources

Phase II

Contract Number: 2R44ES017200-02A1
Start Date: 9/25/08    Completed: 7/31/12
Phase II year
2010
(last award dollars: 2011)
Phase II Amount
$943,211

Perchlorate, ClO4-, is a small highly water soluble anion created by both geogenic and anthropogenic sources. Anthropogenic sources include solid rocket fuel, matches, dyes, paints, airbag inflators, pyrotechnics, flares, and fertilizers. Human exposure to perchlorate is of concern because of the potential for impaired thyroid function, leading to a number of developmental delays and other medical problems. Most remediation projects rely on ion exchange resin bed reactors that operate in series as a fail-safe measure for when the first resin bed loses its ability to capture perchlorate, namely, its exhaustion-limit. Resin beds and resins are the largest cost item in the remediation process. If an online monitoring device could be developed that would warn operators of a bed reaching its exhaustion-limit, remediation efforts could operate more cost- effectively and with greater public safety. In our successful Phase I effort, Advanced MicroLab, LLC (AML) worked with the Prof. Henry Group at Colorado State University to transform a proof-of- principle laboratory experiment into a proof-of-concept commercial prototype for online analysis of perchlorate. Our prototype was field tested at a remediation pilot plant with our collaborators, Applied Research Associates (ARA). Testing post-remediated water, perchlorate was baseline resolved from interfering ions with < 1 5g/L limit-of-detection (LOD). Based on S/N, our device matched, if not out-performed, the gold standard, offline Ion Chromatography, in a side- by-side comparison. Additionally, we demonstrated resolution and reproducible detection of other ions in addition to perchlorate, such as, nitrate. In the proposed Phase II work, will transform a proof-of-concept prototype into a near- commercial demonstration unit meeting end-user specifications for online remediation processing. We will develop a companion field portable prototype for water source spot analysis in the field. We will also develop a companion analysis for nitrate and perchlorate from the same water sample.

Public Health Relevance:
The Department of Defense alone spends approximately $88 million annually on perchlorate-related research activities, including $60 million for perchlorate treatment technologies. In addition to remediation efforts, untold millions of dollars are spent to barricade contaminated sites and forcing to treat alternative non-contaminated water sources. The majority of the burden for the problem falls on the American citizen either through higher tax rates or municipal water rates. AML provides an innovative technology capable of significantly reducing these burdens through more cost-effective remediation efforts. Our market research conducted in collaboration with remediation technology experts concluded a typical remediation effort would save $0.65 - 1.73 million over a standard 20 year installation lifetime, which translates into a potential savings of $32.5 - 86.4M in California tax dollars alone. More importantly, remediation efforts would be safer, benefiting public health. Remediation facilities have been known to fail with resin release into the public water system. Embedding a monitor within the process can detect malfunctioning equipment or abrupt environmental changes and flag the problem at an early stage before other system components fail.

Thesaurus Terms:
"address; Air Bags; Airbags; American; Anions; Applied Research; Applied Science; Armed Forces Personnel; Assay; Au Element; Beds; Bioassay; Biologic Assays; Biological Assay; California; Child Development Disorders, Specific; Chromatography; Chromatography / Separation Science; Collaborations; Colorado; Coloring Agents; Companions; Computer Programs; Computer Software; Dod; Data; Department Of Defense; Detection; Development; Developmental Delay; Developmental Delay Disorders; Devices; Diagnostic; Dyes; Epa; Effectiveness; Engineering; Engineerings; Environment; Environmental Protection Agency; Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.); Equipment Malfunction; Expert Opinion; Exposure To; Failures, Device; Fertilizers; Flare; Funding; Future; Gold; Hydrogen Oxide; Influentials; Instrumentation, Other; Ion Exchange Resins; Ions; Laboratories; Length Of Life; Letters; Longevity; Malfunction, Equipment; Manufacturer; Manufacturer Name; Market Research; Marketing; Measures; Medical; Methods; Military; Military Personnel; Monitor; Nitrates; Paint; Perchlorates; Performance; Phase; Plant Resins; Plants; Plants, General; Postdoc; Postdoctoral Fellow; Prevalence; Price; Problem Solving; Process; Public Health; Research Activity; Research Associate; Resins, Plant; Resolution; Safety; Sampling; Savings; Series; Side; Site; Software; Solid; Source; Spottings; Staging; System; System, Loinc Axis 4; Taxes; Technology; Testing; Thyroid Function Tests; Thyroid Gland Function Tests; Time; Translating; Translatings; United States Environmental Protection Agency; Universities; Water; Work; Anthropogenesis; Anthropogenic; Base; Computer Program/Software; Cost; Cost Effective; Design; Designing; Drinking Water; Environmental Change; Exhaustion; Experiment; Experimental Research; Experimental Study; Exposed Human Population; Falls; Human Exposure; Improved; Innovative Technologies; Instrumentation; Interest; Language Translation; Life Span; Lifespan; Meetings; Monitoring Device; Post-Doc; Post-Doctoral; Pricing; Propellant; Prototype; Public Health Medicine (Field); Public Health Relevance; Remediation; Research Study; Resin; Superfund Site; Thyroid Function; Water Sampling"