Biosensors in occupational safety and health management : a narrative review

Abstract

A sensor is a device used to gather information registered by some biological, physical or chemical change, and then convert the information into a measurable signal. The first biosensor prototype was conceived more than a century ago, in 1906, but a properly defined biosensor was only developed later in 1956. Some of them have reached the commercial stage and are routinely used in environmental and agricultural applications, and especially, in clinical laboratory and industrial analysis, mostly because it is an economical, simple and efficient instrument for the in situ detection of the bioavailability of a broad range of environmental pollutants. We propose a narrative review, that found 32 papers and aims to discuss the possible uses of biosensors, focusing on their use in the area of occupational safety and health (OSH).