ARISTO project update

NCIMB is part of ARISTO: The European Industry – Academia Network for Revising and Advancing the Assessment of the Soil Microbial Toxicity of Pesticides. Soil microorganisms are essential for soil health, so it is important that the methods used to assess pesticide toxicity reflect the impact of their use on this group of organisms. Recent studies have indicated that ammonia-oxidizing microbes (AOM), which perform the first and typically rate-limiting step of the important nutrient cycling process nitrification, are ideal microbial indicators of agrochemicals’ toxicity because of their key functional role, …

UK guidance for a risk-based approach to the management of produced water recommends Mara and LumiMara for marine toxicity testing

Newly updated guidance for the UK’s risk-based approach (RBA) to the management of produced water discharges from offshore installations has been published. The updated guidance document, which recommends the use of NCIMB’s MARA and LumiMARA tests for marine toxicity testing, in preference to the more conventional Microtox bacteria test, was published by the UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy in December. The UK is implementing a risk-based approach to the management of produced water discharges from offshore oil and gas installations in accordance with the OSPAR Convention. OSPAR …