Improved toxicity analysis of heavy metal-contaminated water via a novel fermentative bacteria-based test kit.

The objective of this study was development of a simple and reliable microbial toxicity test based on fermentative bacteria to assess heavy metal (Hg2+, Cu2+, Cr6+, Ni2+, As5+, or Pb2+)-contaminated water. The dominant species of test organisms used in this study was a spore-forming fermentative bacterium, Clostridium guangxiense. Toxicity of water was assessed based on inhibition of fermentative gas production of the test organisms, which was analyzed via a syringe method. Overall, the fermentative bacteria-based test kits satisfactorily identified increased toxicity of water as water was contaminated with high amounts of heavy metals; however, levels of inhibition were dissimilar depending on the species of metals. Inhibitory effects of Hg2+, Cu2+, Cr6+, and Ni2+ were considerably greater than those of As5+ and Pb2+. The 24 h half-maximum effective concentrations (EC50) for Hg2+, Cu2+, Cr6+, Ni2+, As5+, and Pb2+ were analyzed to be 0.10, 0.51, 1.09, 3.61, 101.33, and 243.45 mg/L, respectively, confirming that Hg2+, Cu2+, Cr6+, and Ni2+ are more toxic to fermentative gas production than As5+ and Pb2+. The fermentative bacteria-based toxicity test represents an improvement over other existing toxicity tests because of ease of end-point measurement, high reproducibility, and favorable on-site field applicability. These advantages make the fermentative bacteria-based test suitable for simple and reliable toxicity screening for heavy metal-contaminated water.