Testing Water
Water covers over 70% of the Earth’s surface and it is vital for life as we know it. Access to safe and clean water is one of the most important issues facing the world today and it is done through continuous testing and monitoring our water. Water pollution is when natural water is contaminated by substances that originate from various sources. There are two main sources:
Point Sources (i.e. discharge from sewage)
OR
Non-Point Sources (i.e. agricultural runoff, stormwater runoff, etc.)
Aquatic toxicology is the study of the effects of substances and contaminants on the natural aquatic environment. Using either the Muta-LabTM, Toxi-LabTM, or Coli-LabTM high school biotechnology kits, students will learn to detect and study toxicity levels in an aquatic ecosystem, contamination of water bodies, or by discharging into water bodies without treatment to remove harmful substances.
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Muta-LabTM: The Muta-LabTM high school biotechnology kit is a bacterial based assay that was based on the Ames test which is the gold standard to examine the potential of mutations in human genetics. The high school testing kits are either bacterial based (using a genetically modified strain of E.coli or Salmonella) allowing students to test real world samples.
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Toxi-LabTM: The Toxi-LabTM high school biotechnology kit utilizes a non-pathogenic strain of E.coli that are sensitive to a wide spectrum of toxic substances such as heavy metals as well as organic or inorganic pollutants. It may be used to detect the presence of toxic substances in water and soil/sediment extracts.
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Coli-LabTM: The Coli-LabTM water testing kit is a rapid, convenient and accurate test for qualitative and quantitative measurement of the total Coliforms and E. coli bacteria which is a key indicator in measuring the quality of drinking water. The kit is designed to provide a hands-on experience for students and the results are easy to obtain.
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