Affinity biosensors for characterization of environmental endocrine disruptors

Bioaffinity sensors for the identification and quantitation of environmental endocrine disruptors and metabolites are described. The procedure relies on the recognition of an artificial template having a predefined affinity for the endocrine disruptor of interest. When exposed to the analyte, the template competes with, and displaces a receptor generating a signal. The optimal binding activity was determined from the standard curves generated from the quantity of the labeled molecule remaining after the system reaches equilibrium. Detection limits in the range low ppb range was obtained for PCBs, triazines and metal ions. A rational strategy for assessing the additive and synergetic effects of several structurally similar analogs of PCBs is presented.