Field-compatible protocol for detecting tetracyclines with bioluminescent bioreporters without pipetting steps.

Whole-cell bioreporters are living organisms and thus using them for detecting environmental contaminants would reflect biological effects of these pollutants. However, bioreporters are not widely used in field studies. Many of the bioreporter field protocols are suitable for liquid samples or include pipetting steps, which is a demanding task outside the laboratory.

Toxicity detection from EILATox-Oregon Workshop samples by using kinetic photobacteria measurement: the Flash method.

The Flash test, which can be used to measure the toxicity from clear, turbid and coloured samples with identical protocol, was used in the EILATox-Oregon Workshop. During the workshop, 17 synthetic samples and three environmental samples were tested. In the Flash method the photobacteria Vibrio fischeri are initially dispensed on top of the sample and the light output of the bioluminescence reaction is recorded at a rate of several readings per second.

Toxicity assessment of oil-contaminated freshwater sediments.

The performance of four microscale toxicity bioassays conducted on whole sediments was evaluated during a bioremediation project undertaken in 1999-2000 on a crude oil-contaminated freshwater shoreline of the St. Lawrence River, Quebec, Canada. The toxicity tests assessed included: (1) the Microtox solid-phase assay (MSPT), (2) the Biotox Flash solid-phase test (Flash), (3) the algal solid-phase assay (ASPA), and 4) the Ostracodtoxkit solid-phase assay.