Development of an operational tool for biomonitoring using constant pressure respirometry

Technical Report · Mon Jun 29 04:00:00 EDT 1992

OSTI ID:6590550

Zachritz, II, W H; Morrow, J ^[1]

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1. New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States)

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) policy statement (FR 49, 9016, 9 March 1984) for the development of water quality based permit limitations includes toxicity testing of effluents as an important part of a water quality approach to controlling toxics (Pickering, 1988). To assure that state waters are free of toxics, both chemical and biological methods were recommended for assessing effluent quality. The US EPA validated bioassay procedures for toxicity testing of wastewater discharges use three distinctive organisms groups: vertebrates, invertebrates, and algae (Weber, 1989). The specific species for these three groups are fathead minnow, Pimephales promelas; water tea, Ceriodaphnia, dubia; and the green algae, Selenastrum capricornum, respectively. Definitive testing estimates the concentration atwhich a certain percentage of organisms exhibit a certain response. The definitive test exposes several replicate groups of organisms to the target substrate for a predetermined time period effluent concentration. The overall goal of this study is to develop an acceptable protocol for operational biomonitoring based on constant pressure respirometry for LANL. The specific objectives include: Development an appropriate toxicity testing protocol based on constant pressure respirometry for whole effluent toxicity testing, and evaluate the protocol based on factors such as sensitivity, response time, cost of analysis, and simplicity of operation.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States); New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6590550
• Report Number(s): LA-SUB-93-48; ON: DE93008674
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540300* -- Environment
Aquatic-- (1990-)
540320 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
550700 -- Microbiology
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ALGAE
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ARTHROPODS
BACTERIA
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
BRANCHIOPODS
CELL CULTURES
CRUSTACEANS
DAPHNIA
DOCUMENT TYPES
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FISHES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INVERTEBRATES
LIQUID WASTES
MATERIALS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MICROORGANISMS
MONITORING
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
PROGRESS REPORT
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
SEWAGE
SURFACE WATERS
TOXICITY
VERTEBRATES
WASTE WATER
WASTES
WATER
WATER QUALITY