EXPRESS METHOD OF BIOLOGICALLY TESTING SWEET WATER FOR "BEHAVIORAL REACTIONS OF MOLLUSKS" Russian patent published in 1997 - IPC

FIELD: environmental protection. SUBSTANCE: invention relates to methods for environmentally controlling variable-destination water using biological testing and can be used to estimate quality of water polluted with industrial, agricultural, and household toxicants and their mixtures in concentrations from 0.1 to 100 and more limiting permissible concentrations when performing ecological assessment, mapping, and monitoring of natural and ground water. Method of invention allows estimating changes in behavioral reactions of test organisms arising in test water including locomotory and respiratory activity as well as other physiological reactions of organisms characterizing their functional state and thereby being indicators of toxicity degree of test water. Estimation of changes in behavioral reactions of test organisms is performed twice in special vessels-dishes of two types during the first hour of stay of test organisms in test water and 48-70 h later, that is, in adaptation and acclimation phases of test organisms, respectively. As test organisms, mollusks Ampullaria gigas are used specially bred through congruent crossing in standard, "environmentally safe" laboratory conditions. Mathematical treatment of data gives one of criteria of toxicity which is compared, using special scales, to data similarly obtained for model solutions with known concentrations of main classes of toxicants and for standard water taking into account existing norms regarding principal toxicants in dependence on target destination of test water. Then degree of test water toxicity is determined. EFFECT: amended testing and estimation procedures. 11 tbl