Bioassays for micropollutants put to test

In a large ring test, 20 laboratories - among them the Ecotox Centre - have used a total of 103 in vitro bioassay methods to assess the quality of water samples. Wastewater, recycled water, rainwater, surface water and drinking water were tested. Thus, numerous detection methods could be directly compared for the first time. The scientists recommend that the water quality should be assessed in routine monitoring with a tailor-made battery of bioassays. This battery of bioassays should include integrative endpoints such as cytotoxicity as well as endpoints specific to relevant steps in the cellular toxicity pathway. As a minimum, the bioassays could include the induction of xenobiotic metabolism, the adaptive stress response and the receptor binding of endocrine disruptors.

Escher; B. I. et al. (2014) Benchmarking Organic Micropollutants in Wastewater, Recycled Water and Drinking Water with In Vitro Bioassays. Environ. Sci. Technol., 48 , 1940–1956. Download from ACS

Bioassays for micropollutants put to test

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