Bioassay for monitoring biochemical methane potential and anaerobic toxicity

Techniques are presented for measuring the biodegradability (Biochemical Methane Potential—BMP) and toxicity (Anaerobic Toxicity Assay—ATA) of material subjected to anaerobic treatment. These relatively simple bioassays can be conducted in most research laboratories without the need for sophisticated equipment. BMP is a measure of substrate biodegradability determined by monitoring cumulative methane production from a sample which is anaerobically incubated in a chemically defined medium. The ATA measures the adverse effect of a compound on the rate of the total gas production from an easily-utilized, methanogenic substrate. These techniques are demonstrated by an analysis of the BMP and ATA of processed samples of peat.