ABSTRACT
During the early 1990s, Toxkit microbiotests were gradually incorporated into various monitoring studies of wastewaters, landfills, and river sediments. With regard to the marine environment, a variety of invertebrate test species including many crustaceans, is currently used in the framework of international conventions, with an increasing tendency for the mysid Mysidopsis bahia and the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa as preferred test organisms. The crustacean Toxkit assay is as sensitive as the standard Daphnia test, it is clear that the latter bioassay, for which there is a very large database, will continue to be the workhorse in toxicity testing with invertebrates. On the basis of the information available to date, it seems that the low-cost and user-friendly Daphtoxkits, in combination with the culture-independent Algaltoxkit, will be powerful new tools in many countries for routine toxicity screening of chemicals and biomonitoring of contaminated sites.
