M. Pardos et al., Confirmation of elemental sulfur toxicity in the Microtox (R) assay duringorganic extracts assessment of freshwater sediments, ENV TOX CH, 18(2), 1999, pp. 188-193
Recent literature indicates that the elemental sulfur occurring in organic
extracts of sediment samples can be toxic to the bacterium Vibrio fischeri,
used in standard Microtox(R) bioassays. This observation was tested by mea
ns of the solvent extraction of 14 freshwater sediment samples from rivers
tributary to Lake Geneva (Switzerland-France), measuring both Microtox toxi
city and the elemental sulfur concentration of the extracts. Aliquots of th
ese sediment extracts were further treated to remove the sulfur by adding a
cid-activated copper to the crude extracts; for 18 h in one case, and for 1
16 h in an other. The results were a significant amount of the observed acu
te toxicity ill the Microtox assay of 81% of sample extracts (n = 42, crude
and after cleanup) was due to elemental sulfur, and despite a median decre
ase of 99.1% of elemental sulfur in the extracts subject to a 116-h cleanup
, sulfur toxicity was not completely excluded for 57% (8/14) of the samples
. Clearly, the Microtox methodology needs to be amended to more accurately
assess the potential impact of organic pollutants in sediments when solvent
extracts are used. This will help to cut down on costly and unnecessary re
medial actions.