ABSTRACT
Ciliated protozoans are ubiquitous unicellular eukaryotes: they inhabit soils, sediments, and marine and freshwater aquatic environments. This chapter focuses on the literature dealing specifically with ciliate bioassay techniques, which have been to varying degrees, validated and calibrated, and which may have the potential to be used as standard or routine test methods. It evaluates test types with respect to critical aspects of toxicity test method implementation, namely: their cost, simplicity, speed, toxicant specificity, comparability with other bioassays, and any progress toward test method standardization. Recent advances in the assessment of ecotoxicity have focused on: microscale testing; more rapid bioassessment techniques; and more sensitive indicator parameters of water quality. Ciliate bioassays have utilized a variety of test organisms; studies which have proposed the bioassays have tested a broad range of chemical toxicants. The tests generally fall under the following categories of biological parameters: growth inhibition, survival, respiration, chemosensory behavior, mutagenicity, and ingestion rate.
