Optical method for determining optical brightener concentration in water solution

The field of environmental sensors has been developing driven by the Baltic Sea environmental considerations. The authors propose the use of optical methods for developing sensitive, selective and low cost approach to address water media emitted matter research. An optical method to detect the human anthropogenic load presence in water bodies by measuring minute optical brighteners (OBs) concentration in water due to the laundry effluent is demonstrated. The authors propose to use OBs as a conveniently and affordably detectable optical parameter to compare the levels of human impact on the water bodies studied.