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Preliminary data of a single‐blind, multicountry trial of six bioassays for water toxicity monitoring
Author(s) -
Forget G.,
SánchezBain A.,
Arkhipchuk V.,
Beauregard T.,
Blaise C.,
Castillo G.,
Castillo L. E.,
DíazBaez M. C.,
PicaGranados Y.,
Ronco A.,
Srivastava R. C.,
Dutka B. J.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
environmental toxicology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.813
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1522-7278
pISSN - 1520-4081
DOI - 10.1002/1522-7278(2000)15:5<362::aid-tox2>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - bioassay , daphnia , biology , toxicology , environmental chemistry , environmental science , ecology , chemistry , zooplankton
Simple and affordable, yet sensitive and reliable batteries of bioassays for water toxicity testing in developing countries are still not available. The International Development Research Centre (IDRC, Canada) created an international network of laboratories (WaterTox) whose goal is to identify and test a battery of bioassays which could serve that purpose. Eight laboratories from both developing and industrialized countries undertook a standardization and calibration exercise which involved the testing of 24 samples (simple blind design) over the course of a year. The samples were either organic or inorganic toxicants, or mixtures of the two. The bioassays used were the onion root bundle growth assay, the lettuce seed germination assay (root and seedling length), the Daphnia 48 h mortality assay, the Hydra 96 h mortality assay, the Muta‐Chromoplate mutagenicity test, and the nematode maturation 96 h assay. Based on test performance, reproducibility, and user‐friendliness, inclusion of three of the bioassays in a simplified battery is recommended: lettuce seed germination, Daphnia , and Hydra. A fourth test, the onion bulb bioassay, was also found to be compatible with the criteria used in selecting the battery. The results of two parallel projects were also described: the standardization of an algal micro assay ( Selenastrum sp) and the screening of alternative concentration procedures which could increase the ability of the tests to detect low levels of contaminants in environmental water samples. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Environ Toxicol 15: 362–369, 2000