Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36777475›Full record

ArticleNPJ clean water2023

The accuracy and usability of point-of-use fluoride biosensors in rural Kenya.

Walter Thavarajah, Patrick Mbullo Owuor, Diana Ross Awuor, Karlmax Kiprotich, Rahul Aggarwal, Julius B Lucks, Sera L Young

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in NPJ clean water, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Design and discovery of 'tug-of-war' riboswitches.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  2. Programming Next-Generation Synthetic Biosensors by Genetic Circuit Design.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Walter Thavarajah *Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208 USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6122-2796
Patrick Mbullo Owuor *Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, 1810 Hinman Avenue, Evanston, IL 60208 USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4550-2667
Diana Ross AwuorDepartment of Management Science and Project Planning, Nairobi University, P.O. Box 30197, GPO, Nairobi, Kenya.ORCID 0000-0002-2842-2016
Karlmax KiprotichDepartment of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, School of Public Health, Moi University, P.O. Box 4606-30100, Eldoret, Kenya.ORCID 0000-0001-5293-5199
Rahul AggarwalDepartment of Anthropology, Northwestern University, 1810 Hinman Avenue, Evanston, IL 60208 USA.ORCID 0000-0002-5612-6548
Julius B LucksDepartment of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208 USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0619-6505
Sera L YoungCenter for Synthetic Biology, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208 USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1763-1218

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Geogenic fluoride contaminates the water of tens of millions of people. However, many are unaware of the fluoride content due in part to shortcomings of detection methods. Biosensor tests are a relatively new approach to water quality testing that address many of these shortcomings but have never been tested by non-experts in a "real-world" setting. We therefore sought to assess the accuracy and usability of a point-of-use fluoride biosensor using surveys and field tests in Nakuru County, Kenya. Biosensor tests accurately classified elevated fluoride (≥1.5 ppm) in 89.5% of the 57 samples tested. Usability was also high; all participants were able to use the test and correctly interpreted all but one sample. These data suggest that biosensor tests can provide accurate, meaningful water quality data that help non-experts make decisions about the water they consume. Further scaling of these technologies could provide new approaches to track global progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 6.

Indexed as

Chemical engineeringDeveloping worldWater resources

Identifiers

PMID36777475
PMCPMC9905762

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.