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Description
Paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) are potent toxins produced by some microalgae species. Accumulation of these toxins in mollusks during harmful algal blooms (HABs) may lead to grave intoxications when bivalves are consumed by humans. Apart from public health concern, HABs represent significant economic burden for aquaculture and tourism with annual losses in EU exceeding 918 M EUR. Due to unpredictability of HABs, routine surveillance programs of toxins in commercial bivalves are established in the EEA member countries (http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2004/853/oj).
The multidisciplinary consortium of the COASTAL project aims to develop microfluidic system with integrated sensors for rapid PSTs’ detection. This low-cost portable tool could be used by shellfish producers for early detection of PST contaminated shellfish batches, contributing to the sustainability and competitiveness of the sector. The project targets are a) to develop methodology for simultaneous sensing of major 5 PSTs occurring in Portuguese and Norwegian; b) to develop user-friendly microfluidic architecture to perform automated toxins detection in small sample volumes that could be used outside of laboratory settings by operators without specialized skills; c) to benchmark the developed microfluidic sensing system against conventional analytical techniques, and to estimate its innovation potential d) to improve competences of consortium members.
Donor country partner SINTEF contributes to the project with the development of integrated microfluidic sensors. Joined with the expertise in electrochemical sensing of the Project Promoter University of Aveiro and expertise in PST detection of Portuguese and Norwegian National Reference Laboratories, the COASTAL consortium aims at bringing this innovative idea into practical use for shellfish producers. The COASTAL consortium will create a highly interactive and learning environment fostering innovative ideas in the field of marine toxins surveillance.