The protozoan biotest Colpidium campylum, a tool for toxicity detection and toxic interaction modelling

This paper presents the bioassay Colpidium campylum, a ciliate protozoan of freshwater. Easy to learn, cost-effective, sensitive, this test appears to be complementary to other aquatic tests such as the Daphnia or the Microtox tests. It is a miniaturized test usable as a substitution method for cellular tissues. Two study methods were developed: measurement of IC 50 of products, and polynomial modelling of interactions between components, which allows estimation of the toxicity of an effluent in the receiving medium. This bioassay and the method of study of interactions are two tools which seem to have their place in risk assessment in aquatic medium.