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DEVELOPMENT OF A BIOSENSOR FOR OBJECTIVELY QUANTIFYING NUISANCE ODORS NEAR LANDFILLS

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Date Issued:
2022
Abstract/Description:
Nuisance odors from landfills have more impact than just being an annoyance to nearby residents. With an ever-increasing population, a larger number of communities are located in closer proximity to landfills than ever before. This has brought along with it, more regular conflicts with landfill authorities surrounding the issue of odors, resulting in complaints, lawsuits, fines, and even re-siting operations. The absence of an objective method of quantifying nuisance odors makes the task of creating regulations and setting standards even more complicated. The current research focuses on a method to objectively quantify landfill odors. The human odorant binding protein 2A (hOBPIIa) can be produced using published recombinant gene technology and can be used as a biosensor to quantify odorants through spectrofluorometric measurements. The current work is a continuation of the previous work by Rahman (2020). In this work, the spent biosensor after it reacts with an odorant is shown to be regenerated by applying additional fluorophore following La Chateliers’ principle, so that the same batch of protein can be used to run multiple experiments with odorants. An important part of the work miniaturized the earlier version of the experimental setup and incorporates a much more efficient flow-through system. This setup is capable of collecting real-time readings, increasing the overall accuracy and shortening the duration of each set of the experiment. The current work also explores the response of the biosensor with an expanded group of pure odorants, including hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, toluene, formaldehyde, tert-butyl mercaptan, and methyl mercaptan as well as their mixtures, thus expanding the list of odorants tested under this principle. The results show that the protein shows a concentration-dependent response differing on the hydrophobicity of the target compound.
Title: DEVELOPMENT OF A BIOSENSOR FOR OBJECTIVELY QUANTIFYING NUISANCE ODORS NEAR LANDFILLS.
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Name(s): Rahman, Sharmily , author
Meeroff, Daniel E., Thesis advisor
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Created: 2022
Date Issued: 2022
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 174 p.
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: Nuisance odors from landfills have more impact than just being an annoyance to nearby residents. With an ever-increasing population, a larger number of communities are located in closer proximity to landfills than ever before. This has brought along with it, more regular conflicts with landfill authorities surrounding the issue of odors, resulting in complaints, lawsuits, fines, and even re-siting operations. The absence of an objective method of quantifying nuisance odors makes the task of creating regulations and setting standards even more complicated. The current research focuses on a method to objectively quantify landfill odors. The human odorant binding protein 2A (hOBPIIa) can be produced using published recombinant gene technology and can be used as a biosensor to quantify odorants through spectrofluorometric measurements. The current work is a continuation of the previous work by Rahman (2020). In this work, the spent biosensor after it reacts with an odorant is shown to be regenerated by applying additional fluorophore following La Chateliers’ principle, so that the same batch of protein can be used to run multiple experiments with odorants. An important part of the work miniaturized the earlier version of the experimental setup and incorporates a much more efficient flow-through system. This setup is capable of collecting real-time readings, increasing the overall accuracy and shortening the duration of each set of the experiment. The current work also explores the response of the biosensor with an expanded group of pure odorants, including hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, toluene, formaldehyde, tert-butyl mercaptan, and methyl mercaptan as well as their mixtures, thus expanding the list of odorants tested under this principle. The results show that the protein shows a concentration-dependent response differing on the hydrophobicity of the target compound.
Identifier: FA00014101 (IID)
Degree granted: Dissertation (PhD)--Florida Atlantic University, 2022.
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Includes bibliography.
Subject(s): Landfills
Fills (Earthwork)
Odors
Biosensors
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00014101
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.