Azur Environmental

Grace Scheibner

Ker-Kong Tung

Charles Walbourn

A method for the direct determination of the toxicity of a solid material by direct contact between the solid sample and a luminescent microorganism, consisting of the steps of forming a suspension of a luminescent microorganism in a 0.5% to 6% solution of NaCl or 20% solution of sucrose in distilled water diluent and contacting a sample of the solid to be tested directly with the suspension of luminescent microorganisms. A control including the microorganism in the diluent is also prepared. The combination of microorganism suspension and solid sample is incubated for a sufficient time to allow for the toxicity of the sample to affect the metabolism of the living organism. During or subsequent to the incubation period the combined organism and sample are subjected to a separation step to separate a major portion of the particulate solid from the suspension of microorganisms. The light output of the separated suspension is determined and compared with the light output of the control to arrive at the change in light output of the microorganism due to contact with the solid sample.

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Oceanside, CA, United States of America

Grace Scheibner