Urban runoff is the bane of open water swimmers. Whether the runoff is due to rainfall or the man-made pollutants and trash that make its ways from the streets, factories and farms to our rivers and oceans, it does affects open water swimmers, most of whom swim relatively close to the shorelines. The pollutants include sewage, pesticides, chemical runoff from industrial plants, engine oil from cars.
Researchers recently announced a portable biosensor that can detect very tiny amounts of contaminants in the ocean in less than ten minutes. This can radically change the way lifeguards, municipalities and open water swimming event directors instruct the public and race participants about the amount of pollution in open bodies of water. The new technology can help spot and track dangerous contaminants in the oceans faster and cheaper than current methods.
“If a beach needs to be closed down, we have a sensor to take a sample quickly and determine if it is, going to be concentrations that are harmful to humans,” explained Candace Spier, Ph.D. of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. “This sensor can be brought to the field instead of bringing the sample back to the lab and the sensor can also determine the concentrations on site.”
Dr. Spier and her colleagues use antibodies to identify pollution in water. As water flows through the sensor, antibodies mixed with a dye bind to any contaminants. This allows the level of pollution to be identified when it glows as the dye is exposed to fluorescent light. Not only does this sensor and the methodology have immediate positive benefits for environmental scientists, but also, potentially sometime in the future, great benefits to open water swimming race directors and locations where many people gather to enjoy a day at the beach.
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.