Urine, capillary, blood tests… We told you regarding them in our file “Toxic metals: how to prevent them from weighing us down”, it is often difficult to know which technique to trust to seriously detect its rate of toxic metals such as cadmium, mercury or lead.
A group of Brazilian, German and Swedish researchers may be on the verge of solving this problem. With just a few ordinary materials like copper, tape, and nail polish, they created a small, easy-to-make device that detects toxic metals in sweat and that they plan to patent following improvement.
Developed at the premises of the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil, this small toxic metal detector consists of a flexible copper sensor covered with adhesive tape, transparent plastic film, a paper label , all covered with a protective layer of nail polish (see photo below).
A test that might be performed by professionals without training
Paulo Augusto Raymundo Pereira, postdoctoral fellow in analytical chemistry and co-author of the article, recalls the burden that toxic metals constitute on our health and the urgency for the world to produce “in bulk easily, cheaply and quickly » this type of detectors.
With its co-authors, they point out that humans eliminate heavy metals mainly in sweat and urine and that, unlike other gold standard tests for detecting heavy metals in blood, urine or sweat, their sensor is quite simple. Connected to a portable instrument that determines the concentration of each metal by measuring the potential and current differences between the electrodes, the result of this test is then displayed on a computer or smartphone using appropriate software. Finally, another advantage, the device is simple enough to be used by non-specialists without training, such as technicians in hospitals, clinics or medical practices.
The performance of the sensor in detecting lead and cadmium has been evaluated in tests using artificial sweat, but adaptations are necessary before the device can be patented, and why not suitable as a more general detector for pesticides in food or water, the researchers hope. We will keep you informed of the progress of their research.
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