Permit Toxicity Testing

CANTEST provides a wide range of services for evaluating industrial effluents and chemicals. The permit and routine toxicity testing services include the following:

Acute Fish and Daphnia Bioassays

• Rainbow trout 96-hour LC50 test or LT50 test
• Daphnia magna (water flea) 48-hour LC50

Routine Bioassays for Government Permit Compliance (Environment Canada, WET, NPDES)

• Freshwater tests
• Daphnia magna and fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas)

Chronic Saltwater Tests

• Topsmelt (Atherinops affinis) and mussels (Mytilis edulis) according to EPA guidelines
• Chronic and Sublethal Aquatic Toxicity Evaluations
• Salmonid Early Life Stage Development Tests
      »  7-day Embryo Alevin Test (E test)
      »  30-day Embryo Alevin Test (EA test)
      »  90-day Embryo Alevin Fry Test (EAF test)
• 7-day Ceriodaphnia dubia Survival and Reproduction
• 21-day Daphnia magna Survival and Reproduction
• 7-day Growth and Survival of fathead minnow, topsmelt or silverside
• 72-hour Freshwater Algal Growth Inhibition (Selenastrum capricornutum)
• Echinoderm Larval Development

Microtox® Testing

The Microtox® Test uses a marine bacteria, Vibrio fischeri to examine potential effects to water, sediment and soil microbes.

• Liquid Phase
• Solid Phase

Note: Chronic Microtox® and Mutatox® tests are no longer supported by the manufacturer.

Toxicity Investigations for Industry and Government

• Designation of Dangerous Waste #80-12
  To determine if a waste meets the definition of dangerous waste, the Washington Department of of Ecology (WDOE) requires a static acute fish toxicity test, which CANTEST can perform.
• Antisapstain Tests for British Columbia – 0459X542
  To determine if stormwater effluent from areas with treated lumber is acutely toxic, an acute 96-hr LT50 fish bioassay is required.
• Ocean Disposal Testing - CEPA 1999
  Some material that is disposed of in the ocean may adversely affect marine organisms. CANTEST analyzes sediment samples for acute and sublethal toxicity using three recommended tests:
      »  Solid phase Microtox®
      »  10-d marine amphipod
      »  Echinoderm fertilisation