How to Monitor Pollution With Microbes

Monitoring environmental pollution with microbes involves using organisms or cells from native or genetically modified test species. Pollutants monitored using these natural bio-sensors can be in air, soil, wastewater or industrial effluents. Highly sensitive toxicity bio-assays using bioluminescence inhibition are common, standardized and commercially available. They offer the most accurate results over a large range of different chemicals to be tested.

Things You'll Need

• Marine bacteria Vibrio Fischeri
• Mobile or semipermanent bio-assay laboratory
• Plate luminometer
• Safety gloves

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Instructions

• 1

  Create a natural bio-sensor using a marine bacteria such as Vibrio Fischeri (a naturally bioluminescent bacterium).

• 2

  Using the luminometer, take a preliminary measurement of light emitted by the natural bio-sensor in a sample of water you know is not polluted. This serves as your control.

• 3

  Station a small laboratory at the site or sites to be tested for pollution. Take a container suitable for collecting the water to be tested and safety equipment depending on the type of pollution expected. You also need your luminometer.

• 4

  Add the bio-sensor organisms to the suspected polluted medium (river, waterway or effluent).

• 5

  Collect a sample of the polluted medium containing the bio-sensor.

• 6

  Measure the blue-green light emitted using a luminometer. According to Aboatox, it only takes between 5 and 30 minutes to perform this test accurately using a modern plate luminometer. If the bacteria sustain a reduced metabolic enzymatic activity due to pollutant contamination, they will produce proportionally less light. The wavelength you should be expecting is 490 nanometers (nm).