Analytica Chimica Acta 431 (2001) 225–230 Microbial sensor for trichloroethylene determination Tae-Sung Han a , Yoon-Chang Kim a , Satoshi Sasaki a , Kazuyoshi Yano a , Kazunori Ikebukuro a , Atsushi Kitayama b , Teruyuki Nagamune b , Isao Karube a,∗ a Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan b Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan Received 13 June 2000; received in revised form 2 November 2000; accepted 21 November 2000 Abstract A novel microbial trichloroethylene (TCE) sensor was developed. Pseudomonas aeruginosa JI104 was immobilized on a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filter (diameter: 25 mm, pore size: 0.45 m) and mounted onto chloride ion electrode. This sensor enabled inexpensive real time analyses of TCE. The linear concentration range of this sensor for TCE was from 0.1 to 4 mg l −1 , which is suitable for the detection of TCE in industrial waste water. Under the optimal condition, the response time was less than 10min. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Microbial sensor; Trichloroethylene; Pseudomonas aeruginosa 1. Introduction The contamination of soil and groundwater with persistent organic pollutants is a matter of increasing concern. The most common organic pollutants are chlorinated hydrocarbons such as tetrachloroethene (perchloroethylene, PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE) and 1,1,1-trichloroethane which were used histori- cally as degreasers and have entered the groundwater by leakage, spillage or disposal into the ground. Al- though these compounds are largely immiscible with the groundwater at ambient conditions, their solubili- ties greatly exceed maximum contaminant levels and drinking water standards. Many of them are classified as probable human carcinogens, such as trichloroethy- lene. By the processes of dissolution and groundwater ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +81-3-5452-5220; fax: +81-3-5452-5227. E-mail address: karube@bio.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp (I. Karube). transport, the pollutants disperse to generate plumes of contaminated groundwater. TCE is an extensively used industrial solvent and, due to its broad application and high volatility, it has become a major ground water contaminant. In western Europe the production quantities of dichloromethane, TCE and PCE amount to 150, 68 and 92 thousand tons, respectively [1]. In Japan, following the survey of the Environmental Agency in 1982, many ground waters were found to be contaminated by TCE with higher concentration than environmental quality standard (0.03 mg l −1 ) and the number of contaminated wells is still increasing [2]. One of the most promising methods to control the environmental pollution is a biological process. Nu- merous studies have demonstrated that bacteria iso- lated from these environments are able to degrade many of these pollutants [3–5]. Intensive efforts have been undertaken to analyze microbial TCE degrada- tion [6–8] and to develop appropriate bioremediation 0003-2670/01/$ – see front matter © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII:S0003-2670(00)01329-5