Introduction

  Reaching out to specialists and simultaneously presenting the initiative to the general public are always key components of integrated human practice. Our research, in particular, needs public awareness because everyone is at danger from the possible health risks of bisphenol A because its widespread manufacture has already negatively impacted our way of life. In order to help more people understand and get familiar with BPA, our team made an effort to engage with the general public. To reflect and make our project better, we also spent a lot of time talking to and interviewing experts (specifically on biosensors and chemical analysis).

Initial model

  In the first model of our design, our team was inspired by a research project and a previous iGEM team to build a modified enzyme to degrade bisphenol A to another, harmless substance.

  However, after communicating with other iGEM teams doing similar projects that focus on environmental pollutants, our team concluded that building a modified enzyme to degrade BPA was not the best course of action.

Public survey and education

  So that after the team had settled to build a biosensor, BFSU-ICUnited conducted a public survey from July 26 to September 11.

• Educating the public on the general facts & the health risks of BPA
• Ascertain the general opinion on knowledge of BPA
• Mostly importantly, to get a understanding of the stakeholders in our project so that our design suitable to the needs

  With a response from nearly 950 people (n=931), we obtained the following findings and successfully popularized basic information about the toxicity of bisphenol A to the respondents.

  Our pole is aimed to reach to people of all age since everyone is a stakeholder concerning bpa (for we all use plastic materials so we are exposed to it). And based on our results, it did.

  Have you heard of BPA before ？

  From our findings, it can be seen that 27.93% (260 people) have heard of bpa before, while 72.07% (671 people) never know what bisphenol A is. Among those who have heard of bisphenol A, 8.46% (22 people) are very aware of the harm of bisphenol A to the human body, 67.31% (175 people) know a little, and 24.23% (63people) have no awareness. Through the above data, we know that nearly three-quarters of the respondents have never heard of bisphenol A, and the majority of those who have heard of bisphenol A are slightly or not, so we have concluded that the public lacked understanding of bisphenol A.

  Do you also use products containing BPA in your daily life ？

  How often do you use products containing BPA ？

Second Model

Third Model

  After consulting experts in BCPCA (Beijing Center for Physical & Chemical Analysis), they suggested to use electrochemical enzymed based biosensor to detect BPA. And electrochemical biosensors "can recognize the electrical signal from the detected substance and test the concentration of the detected substance through signal strength. It has high sensitivity, accuracy, and wide applicability."

Final Model

  This is the final model in our project.

Educational Cup design

  Despite the positive results of our educational poll, many people are still unaware of BPA (as can be seen by the initial 72 percent completely unaware of BPA). The public needs to be made aware of the risks that BPA poses to their health. Since everyone is a stakeholder on the matter of health matters threatened by BPA, BFSU-ICUnited has made an effort to inform the public of the substance. We have created a porcelain cup to warn the general public of its dangers.

  The health advantages of drinking water and a list of BPA's health risks are printed on the cup. Our team hopes that using this cup will serve as a reminder to drink water and to avoid BPA as much as possible. Since the cup is made of porcelain rather than plastic, consumers are completely protected from BPA.

Hopes for the future

  When Mr. Tian from LanZhou University dropped by, he showed a keen interest in our project. We consulted him for suggestions on creating a BPA replacement.

  He maintained that creating a replacement is crucial. Same as us, Mr.Tian believed that it is impossible to replace it completely all at once based on production statistics (1 million pounds per year [2]), for it would be too much work for us to do. The more likely method is to try to introduce the replacement material to the higher-end market first, where consumers and manufacturers can accept the initially high cost of plastic materials. Then, as time goes on and the cost of manufacturing the replacement material drops, BPA can be completely replaced.