scienze della vita roma, 22-23 ottobre 2012 - SIF

NEW BIOSENSORS FOR BPA DETECTION
D. Moscone a , F. Arduini a , M. Portaccio b , D. Di Tuoro b , D.G. Mita b , M. Lepore b
a Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche, Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
b Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Seconda Università di Napoli, Napoli, Italy
Recently, Bisphenol A (BPA) has received considerable attention due to its endocrine disrupting
activity and possible toxic impact on environment. It is an important organic chemical owing to its
wide use as intermediate in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics, epoxy resins, and flame
retardants. Its main use is as coating of metallic cans, powder paints, dental fillings, and antioxidant
in plastics. It is also been used as an inert ingredient in pesticides, antioxidants and polyvinyl
chloride stabilizer, so BPA levels in the low �g/L range have been found in clinical, food and water
samples. The above findings suggest that it is necessary to determine the BPA presence also in trace
amounts. Traditional methods for BPA detection include chromatographic techniques coupled with
mass spectrometry, capillary electrophoresis and solid phase microextraction, methods that are time
consuming, cannot be performed on-site and require sample pre-treatment. Electrochemical sensors
can provide rapid and on-site BPA detection.
In this presentation the development of new biosensors for the determination of BPA will be
illustrated, both using classical and disposable electrochemical sensors (SPE) and enzymes such as
tyrosinase and laccase eventually combined with properly chosen redox-active compounds. In order
to increase the analytical performance of the proposed biosensors, the screen printed sensors have
also been modified by using nanostructured materials (carbon black).
Application of the new biosensors in real samples such as in peeled tomatoes stored in metallic
cans, will be also presented.
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