Detection and Quantitation of the Explosives 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene and Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine in Groundwater Using a Continuous Flow Immunosensor

Detection of contaminants in a fast, accurate, and cost-effective manner is the first step in the process of environmental clean-up of hazardous wastes. Processes which utilize the high degree of selectivity for a single analyte afforded by antibodies are called immunoassays, and are currently becoming accepted as alternatives to more traditional instrumental analytical techniques in environmental testing. One such immunoassay is described here, and data from two on-site field tests of the sensor are compared to the results obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. The accuracy and reliability of this sensor is clearly demonstrated.