Optical HAB Sensing System
Optical HAB Sensing System
Domoic acid is a toxic amino acid that is produced by certain algae blooms (pseudo-nitzschia) around many coastlines of the UK and the rest of Europe. Domoic acid has recently been detected in high levels off the coasts of Britain and Ireland. It accumulates in shellfish tissue and can pose a serious risk to human health as it passes up the food chain from diatoms to small fish, seabirds, sea mammals, and humans. At the moment the standard method of detection is by ‘bio-assay’ techniques, which are not an on-line method of detection and can take weeks. The in-situ fiber optic sensor system currently being developed by University of Limerick PhD Student Eoin O’Connell under the supervision of Dr William Lyons and Dr Elfed Lewis within the university’s Optical Fibre Sensors Research Centre (www.ofsrc.ul.ie), in conjunction with the Irish Marine Institute (www.marine.ie), offers an on-line monitoring solution for the detection of Harmful Algae Blooms containing Pseud-Nitzschia algae. The inexpensive fibre optic based detection system presented with its associated benefit of increased speed of detection, provides a robust early warning system to the aquaculture industry. Such a system will minimise toxic threats, and will help prevent associated infections within humans.
