This Phase I SBIR Project will develop a new approach to the sensitive detection of organic vapors. The health risks to humans of exposure to organic vapors such as gasoline and solvent fumes at home and in the work place are well documented, but the availability of inexpensive, convenient, but precise chemical sensors for these contaminants is lacking. This new approach will serve as the basis for a simple but sensitive sensor for organic vapors. In this Phase I effort a novel approach to chemical amplification will be coupled to organic vapor detection technology already developed by ChemMotif. The use of chemical amplification will substantially increase the sensitivity of devices built around the ChemMotif technology so that they can be used as self-contained passive sensors for the presence of organic vapor contamination at actionable levels in an air space like an office or basement. These devices can be used as a non-instrumental test for organic vapors that is portable, self- contained, rapid in response, and easily manufactured.
With the availability of simple, relatively inexpensive tests for toxic organic vapors, a new class of detection devices could be fabricated, ones that are lower in cost, rapid in response, and employable by even the untrained user. Such a low cost device would be single-use, coated plastic strips, which, at a few dollars per test, could change the mode of testing for organic vapors such as solvents or gasoline fumes in the environment both at the workplace and in the home.
