Statistical Comparison of Bioassays for Assessment of Toxicity of Organic Components of Wastewater to Activated Sludge

Abstract

In aquatic toxicity testing, no single test species responds appropriately to all toxicants. Therefore test batteries consisting of several individual assays are becoming more common. The species comprising a test battery should be representative of the entire system of interest. Each assay should be complementary to other components in the test battery and the test battery should not include redundant tests. We studied the selection of test battery components for the assessment of the toxicity of organic chemicals to activated sludge. The assays considered were the continuous Shk1, Microtox, Polytox, activated sludge respiration inhibition,