Bioluminescent bacteria: The sparkling hope for pollution detection

Air and water pollutants have hazardous effect on human health and can cause death of living beings. In this research project, an attempt was made to show the possible use of naturally bioluminescent bacteria in detection of environmental pollutants. The bioluminescent bacterial isolate obtained from marine fish was immobilized in Ca alginate beads and exposed to common water and air pollutants i.e. Arsenic, Mercury, Cadmium, lead and SO₂ H₂S, CO₂ and NH₃ respectively. The results of our study revealed that the bioluminescent beads when in contact with these pollutants showed a decrease in the luminance and the reduction in luminance was proportional to concentration of most pollutants. Arsenic trioxide and mercuric chloride showed up to 99% decrease in the luminance but less effectively for Lead acetate and ammonia. Our study also demonstrated a simple yet innovative and effective way of measuring bioluminescence (without using luminometers) i.e. with a camera phone and free open source software. Positive results of such studies may in future form the basis of developing a (real time) user friendly, portable sensor for detecting the environmental pollutants.