Researchers engineered a portable device that detects even the tiniest trace of hydrogen sulfide—one of the primary offenders in bad breath. Karen Hopkin reports. 

研究人员设计了一种便携式设备，可以检测出最轻微的硫化氢痕迹——这是口臭的主要原因之一。卡伦·霍普金报道。

播音撰文：卡伦·霍普金（Karen Hopkin）

翻译：邱燕宁

审校：郭晓

Need a quick breath check before your big meeting…or your big date? Well, scientists from South Korea may be able to help. They’ve engineered a portable device that detects even the tiniest trace of hydrogen sulfide…the stuff that smells like rotten eggs that is one of the primary offenders in oral obnoxiousness. Their work appears in the journal Analytical Chemistry. [Jun-Hwe Cha, et al., Sub-Parts-per-Million Hydrogen Sulfide Colorimetric Sensor: Lead Acetate Anchored Nanofibers toward Halitosis Diagnosis]

需要在重大会议或者约会之前做一下口腔味道检查吗？来自韩国的科学家也许能帮上忙。他们设计了一种便携式设备，可以检测到哪怕是微量的硫化氢……这种物质闻起来像臭鸡蛋，是口腔异味的主要元凶之一。他们的研究发表在《分析化学》（Analytical Chemistry）杂志上。

Bad breath, a.k.a. halitosis, can be more than a social inconvenience. A skunky mouth also may point to some serious underlying medical or dental issues. 

口腔异味，即口臭，不仅仅带来社交上的不便，也可能指向一些严重的潜在的内科或口腔问题。

“Early diagnosis is very significant to prolong your healthy life.”

“早期诊断对延长你的健康生活非常重要。”

Jun-Hwe Cha of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. He says that most of the instruments used for diagnostics are found in clinics or hospitals…which may be tough to get to. And the electronic sensors that are currently used to sniff out various gases require a power source and precise calibration…not easy when you’re out and about.

韩国高级科学技术研究所的Jun-Hwe Cha说。他说，大多数用于诊断的仪器都是在诊所或医院里，而人们跑这些地方会很辛苦。而且目前用于检测各种气体的电子传感器需要电源和精确的校准……不方便外出时使用。

“So, we came up with a strategy to develop colorimetric gas sensors, which change its color when detecting biomarker gases.”

“因此，我们想出了一种策略，开发比色法气体传感器，这种传感器会在检测到生物标记气体时改变其颜色。”

Think of it as a litmus test for your exhalation. 

把它想象成你呼气的试金石。

To build their sensor, the researchers took lead acetate…a chemical used in some hair dye products that turns brown when exposed to hydrogen sulfide. And they embedded it in a three-dimensional nanofiber web…so the dye would spread out across a large surface area. That distribution gives the sensor the sensitivity it needs to detect trace amounts of H2S.

研究人员采用了醋酸铅——一种在染发剂中使用的化学物质来制造他们的传感器，这种物质当接触到硫化氢时会变成棕色。他们把它嵌入一个三维的纳米纤维网络中，这样染料就会扩散到大面积的表面。这种分布为传感器提供了检测痕量H2S所需的灵敏度。

To test the device, the researchers puffed it with different concentrations of hydrogen sulfide gas. And they found that as little as 400 parts per billion of H2S produced a color change that could be seen by the naked eye. Which is about a fifth as much H2S as you’d need to have stank breath. 

为了测试这个装置，研究人员用不同浓度的硫化氢气体对它吹气。他们发现，400ppb浓度的硫化氢中就能够产生可以被肉眼看到的颜色变化。这是产生口臭所需硫化氢浓度的五分之一。

They even used the device with real human outgassing. The researchers had volunteers blow into a bag. And they spiked these exhalates with 1,000 parts per billion H2S. Again, the bad-breathylizer worked like a charm.

他们甚至用这个仪器检测了真人呼出的气体。研究人员让志愿者往袋子里吹气。他们在这些呼出气体中加入了1000ppb浓度的H2S。再一次，这个口臭检测仪真是个神器。

“This sensor showed high potential for simple halitosis diagnosis with your breath anytime anywhere in a very short time.”

“这个传感器能在很短的时间内，在任何时间任何地方对你的呼吸进行简单的口臭诊断。”

The team is now working on similar diagnostic sensors for other vaporous effluvium. It may not sound pretty. But, hey, it’s a gas.

该小组目前正在研究用于检测其它气态排出物的类似诊断传感器。听起来可能不太吸引人。但是，嘿，这可是人类的福音啊。

—Karen Hopkin