New Multi-species Bacterial Toxicity Test a Tool for Whole Effluent Assessment in the Oilfield Environment

摘要

In this article, we have presented several examples to demonstrate the potential value of both MARA and LumiMARA as candidates for a toxicity testing toolbox, alongside other biological tests, which can be incorporated into future testing of offshore discharges, specifically and including produced waters which contain a hydrocarbon (oil in water) component. Both these technologies are flexible and of use in multiple tasks where both chemical persistence and efficacies are being evaluated, or toxicity assessments are required, as with WEA. Testing is rapid (within 24 hours for a MARA result and less than 30 minutes for LumiMARA), provides fingerprint profiles, is cost effective and easy to use with appropriate training. Used in isolation MARA/LumiMARA can provide an overall toxic assessment of produced water prior to discharge in terms of the potential toxic effect with respect to the discharge environment. The MARA "traffic light system" caters for those who want the basic information at a glance and our full reporting format provides a spread of data for those who wish to view the detailed performances of each test strain in either or both arrays.