COMPUTERIZED IN-VITRO TEST FOR CHEMICAL TOXICITY BASED ON TETRAHYMENASWIMMING PATTERNS

An apparatus and a method for rapidly determining chemical toxicity ha ve been evaluated as an alternative to the rabbit eye initancy test (D raize). The toxicity monitor includes an automated scoring of how moti le biological cells (Tetrahymena pyriformis) slow down or otherwise ch ange their swimming patterns in a hostile chemical environment. The me thod, called the Motility Assay (MA), is tested for 30 s to determine the chemical toxicity in 20 aqueous samples containing trace organics and salts. With equal or better detection limits, results compare favo rably to in vivo animal tests of eye irritancy.