Comparison between two Microtox test procedures.

Abstract

A comparison between the two Microtox test procedures, the standard test and the 100% test, has been made. In the standard Microtox bioassay, effluents can be tested up to a concentration of 45%. The 100% test method, however, has been developed for screening effluents with an EC50 value greater than 45%. The relationship between 5-min EC50 values according to the two methods has been studied with a two-way ANOVA analysis for 14 effluents or process waters and one unpurified municipal wastewater sample. All samples were tested twice with a 3-month interval. An F ratio of 15.46 (n = 56) showed that the test methods differed significantly at the 0.1% level. Nevertheless none of the samples had a drastically different EC50 value when tested by the two methods. Both the treatment of the bacteria and the calculation of the EC50 values, which also affect the width of the 95% fiducial limits, differ in the two procedures. The confidence intervals were found to be 10.4 times broader in the 100% tests than in the corresponding standard test. Although the methods differ from each other both in performance and in statistical comparison of the results, both of them could be useful as prescreening methods for determining toxicity to aquatic organisms.