Grantee Research Project Results

Piloting Accessible At-Home Tests for Detecting Lead in Drinking Water in Chicagoland

EPA Grant Number: EM840968
Title: Piloting Accessible At-Home Tests for Detecting Lead in Drinking Water in Chicagoland
Investigators: Young, Sera L , Lucks, Julius B , Gaillard, Jean-Francois
Institution: Northwestern University
EPA Project Officer: Callan, Richard
Project Period: October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2026
Project Amount: $500,000
RFA: Congressionally Directed Spending (2024)
Research Category: Drinking Water , Children's Health , Water Quality , Water

Description:

Our overarching goal is to develop and deploy at-home biosensor lead testing technology that can be used by non-experts to gain knowledge about their water quality, and in turn use this knowledge to protect or improve their health through adjustments in their attitudes and behaviors related to clean drinking water.

Objective:

This project has two primary objectives: (1) To assess and optimize the accuracy, interpretability and usability of at-home biosensor lead in water tests; and (2) Understand how knowledge, attitudes and behaviors related to lead in drinking water change after water testing.

Approach:

We recently created a rapid, at-home test for lead in drinking water designed to be accessible to non-expert users. The test works by leveraging the capabilities of natural molecular machinery called biosensors used by microbes to sense and respond to changing environmental conditions. This test has been validated in laboratory settings but has so far not been fully validated by non-scientists. To validate this technology in the field and meet our objectives, we have designed a study consisting of six stages of activities that we plan to perform across 300 households in Chicago and Evanston, Il areas: (1) participant recruitment; (2) consent and pre-participation survey; (3) sample collection, testing and results interpretation; (4) gold-standard water testing; (5) post-participation survey, and test result and mitigation strategy communication; (6) technology refinement. Collected data will be analyzed to measure progress towards six study outcomes evaluating test accuracy, test interpretability, test usability, as well as understanding the knowledge study participants have about lead contamination, their attitudes about drinking water safety, and their behaviors towards lead in drinking water mitigation.

Expected Results:

We anticipate this project to make major progress towards the creation of functional at-home biosensor lead tests that can be used and interpreted by non-expert users with good baseline accuracy, and a deeper understanding of the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors towards lead in water contamination, that will both inform the wider deployment of this technology in the many areas across the US facing water contamination and water insecurity issues.

Supplemental Keywords:

drinking water, exposure, heavy metals, innovative technology, community-based, biology, social science, environmental chemistry, measurement methods, Great Lakes, EPA Region 5.