Toxicity testing of wastewater and inter-laboratory comparison based on Lemna minor root elongation

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The Lemna minor root regrowth test method is a toxicity test performed with very simple equipment and only one L. minor plant (two- to three-frond) in each culture well, cutting the roots before exposure and measuring the regrowth of the newly developed roots after three days. As a substrate for laboratory toxicity assays, L. minor has the advantages of small size, structural simplicity and rapid growth. Compared to the three internationally standardized methods, this bioassay is faster, simpler, more convenient and cheaper. It can be applied to a variety of sample types, including (a) individual chemicals, commercial products or known mixtures of chemicals, (b) industrial or urban freshwater effluents, elutriates or leachates and (c) surface freshwater or receiving waters. The test can be used alone or as part of a test battery to determine and monitor the toxic effects of individual substances or complex mixtures that may be harmful to aquatic life in freshwater ecosystems, and as a weight-of-evidence approach to determine the need for controlling discharges and setting effluent standards.