Zastosowanie biotestów do oceny jakości wody

The current state of knowledge provides evidence that many of the pollutants in the aquatic environment show toxic and/or mutagenic properties, and thus seriously endanger not only the health of future generations but also that of today's population, due to the risk of developing genetic diseases and malignant tumors. In order to identify hazardous substances, use has been made of numerous biotests and screening procedures (both in vitro and in vivo) which, along with physicochemical analyses, make it possible to assess and predict the effect of water quality on the human organism. The review of the available bioindication methods has demonstrated their advantage over other water quality assessing techniques in that they enable assessments of water quality in the way it is 'perceived" by living organisms. With bioindication methods it is possible not only to investigate how particular organisms respond to the ambient environment, but also to attain information about the trends in the changes that occur in the ecosystems. The organisms cumulating in toxic substances have the ability to indicate that further exposure to the pollutants present in the aquatic environment may lead to the extinction of entire biocoenosis.