MBC is certified by the California State Department of Health Services (DOHS) to conduct DOHS bioassays and has been involved in both laboratory and field bioassay work since 1978. Materials evaluated have included potentially hazardous wastes, cooling water effluents, complex sanitation effluents, production water, underground tank wastes and rust inhibitors, dredge spoils, drill cuttings and muds, heavy metals, and various petroleum products.
Bioassay procedures follow those recommended by USEPA, California Department of Public Health, and Standard Methods. In addition, MBC has assisted in the development of bioassay protocols and conducted a workshop on the impacts of drilling muds and cuttings.
MBC bioassay facilities include 1,500 square feet of environmentally-controlled laboratory, with sub-systems for maintaining appropriate experimental environments. MBC routinely performs various acute and chronic aquatic bioassays and has conducted over 3,000 bioassay studies including 96-hour acute aquatic toxicity, 20-day bioaccumulation and 120-day chronic exposure tests.
Test organisms utilized have included: fathead minnows, three-spined sticklebacks, rainbow trout, purple sea urchins, sand dollars, giant kelp, red abalone, California halibut, speckled sanddabs, shrimp, mysids, copepods, polychaetes, clams, mussels, freshwater flea, larval fathead minnows, and freshwater algae.