Method for toxicological evaluation of an aquatic medium

摘要

Method for toxicological evaluation of an aquatic medium. It consists of an in vitro test which uses the established cell line RTG-2, derived from rainbow trout gonad. The test is performed by measuring three different toxicity parameters in the same cell population, specifically the intracellular ATP content, as a measure of the energy state of the cells and the integrity of the membranes, the incorporation of the supravital dye Neutral Red, as a measure of cell viability, and the total quantity of protein, as a measure of cell mortality. The toxicity of the pure substances is expressed by means of the three median Effective Concentrations (EC 50) which reflect the concentration of substance needed to observe a reduction to half of the values obtained in the control population of unexposed cells. The toxicity of the field samples is expressed as percentages relative to the unexposed cells control, for each of the three parameters studied, taking into account the concentration- dilution factors applied to the sample.