Use of bacterial biosensors to interpret the toxicity and mixture toxicity of herbicides in freshwater

The dose response relationship between seven commonly used herbicides and four luminescence-based bacterial biosensors was characterised. As herbicide concentration increased the light emitted by the test organism declined in a concentration dependent manner. These dose responses were used to compare the predicted vs. observed response of a biosensor in the presence of multiple contaminants. For the majority of herbicide interactions, the relationship was not additive but primarily antagonistic and sometimes synergistic. These biosensors provide a sensitive test and are able to screen a large volume and wide range of samples with relative rapidity and ease of interpretation. In this study biosensor technology has been successfully applied to interpret the interactive effects of herbicides in freshwater environments.