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A biosensor based on conductive poly(pyrrole‐co‐pyrrole‐2‐carboxylic acid) [Poly(Py‐co‐PyCOOH)] copolymer film coated gold electrode was developed for the quantitative phosphate determination. Enzyme pyruvate oxidase was immobilized chemically via the functional carboxylated groups of the copolymer. The potential to be applied which is deficiency of phosphate biosensor studies for precise phosphate detection was clarified by using differential pulse voltammetry technique. Performance of the sensing ability of the biosensor was improved by optimizing cofactor/cosubstrate concentrations, polymeric film density and pH. The biosensor showed a linearity up to phosphate concentration of 5 mM, operational stability with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.07 % (n=7) and accuracy of 101 % at −0.15 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). Detection limit (LOD) and sensitivity were calculated to be 13.3 μM and 5.4 μA mM−1 cm−2, respectively by preserving 50 % of its initial response at the end of 30 days. It's performance was tested to determine phosphate concentrations in two streams of Zonguldak City in Turkey. Accuracy of phosphate measurement in stream water was found to be 91 %.

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This research was carried out in the cities of Zonguldak and Eregli, which have been characterized as urban and industrial environments of the Western Black Sea Region, Turkey, in order to assess the contamination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using mosses as biomonitors. The methodology involved the collection of moss samples (Hypnum cupressiforme), ultrasonic extraction with dichloromethane, cleanup using silica gel and analysis by liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. The total PAH concentrations ranged from 78.1 to 1693.5 ng g(-1) in Zonguldak and from 15.2 to 275.1 ng g(-1) in Eregli. The total PAH concentration in Eregli was about six times lower than that in Zonguldak, revealing the importance of switching from coal to natural gas in residential heating. The diagnostic ratios and the correlation analysis have indicated that coal combustion and traffic emissions were the major PAH sources at both sites. The contour maps were constructed for the determination of spatial distributions of total PAHs, and it was shown for Zonguldak as well as for Eregli that the PAH pollution was much more predominant in highly populated regions. Moving away from the city centres, a gradual decrease in PAH pollution rates was observed.