Ostracodtoxkit F

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The chronic direct contact sediment toxicity test is applicable for toxicity screening of contaminated river sediments, soils and solid wastes.

Ostracodtoxkit F contains all materials to perform three to five 6-day mortality and growth inhibition tests with the benthic freshwater ostracod Heterocypris incongruens. This sediment-contact bioassay is cost-effective, culture-independent and highly standardised, conform to ISO Standard 14371.

 

Test criterion

The Heterocypris incongruens toxicity test is a 6-day chronic bioassay based on mortality or growth inhibition of the test organisms, resulting from the direct contact with sediment. Learn more about the direct sediment toxicity test procedure

Contents of the Ostracodtoxkit F

  • Tubes with cysts (dormant eggs), which you can hatch on demand within 48h to supply the live biota for the direct contact sediment toxicity test.
  • Concentrated hatching and toxicant dilution medium, hatching and test containers, reference sediment, glass micropipettes for the transfer of the organisms, algal food, micrometer slips, wide-mouth pipettes and a microsieve.
  • Short Bench Protocol and standard operating procedure brochure with easy-to-follow instructions and detailed illustrations.
  • Data scoring sheets and a Quality Control specification sheet with batch number of the cysts, the media, the food and the reference sediment.

All test materials and equipment included in the Ostracodtoxkit F are available separately.

Reproducibility

  • We produce high-quality cysts in strictly controlled conditions. This way, we preclude variability associated with recruitment/maintenance of live stocks in conventional bioassays.
  • The fixed amount of standard food (live algae) in the test cups precludes variability of results due to food shortage.
  • A Quality Control test with a reference sediment is described in detail, so you can easily check accuracy and reproducibility.

Cost-effectiveness

  • You can hatch the cysts on demand, which eliminates the need and the costs of continuous culturing and maintenance of your test organisms.
  • The direct contact sediment toxicity test requires minimal space and equipment:
    • small centrifuge
    • dissection microscope
    • incubator with lateral lights
    • conventional laboratory glassware
  • If you store the cysts properly, you can prolong their shelf life for several months and reduce test scheduling constraints.
  • You can easily obtain live food (algae) for the test organisms from algal beads included in the kit.

User-friendliness

  • Simple handlings and scorings.
  • Total performance time of the sediment toxicity bioassay is approximately 2 hours.
  • We can provide you with a computer program for easy Toxkit data treatment.

Sensitivity

The sensitivity of the Ostracodtoxkit toxicity test compares favorably with that of “conventional” sediment contact tests with e.g. the amplipod Hyalella azteca or the midge larvae Chironomus riparius.

Validation

  • Ostracodtoxkit F is used in many environmental laboratories and research institutes worldwide and is validated by an extensive international interlaboratory comparison.
  • You can find a substantial number of publications, posters, reports and reviews for various uses.
  • Our cyst-based freshwater sediment toxicity test complies with the protocols of ISO Standard 14371 for regulatory testing.

 

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