Science and research organisation Fera Science has begun construction work on a new aquatic laboratory testing facility in Sand Hutton, Yorkshire, which will provide a range of ecotoxicology test services.
The state-of-the-art facility, which will include three testing rooms and associated plant rooms, will replicate a range of simulated study environments that means a wider variety of fish ecotoxicology testing studies can take place. The facility is scheduled to be officially operational this Spring.
Fish studies constitute one of the key areas of testing required to determine safety levels of chemicals either being developed and tested for the first time, or existing chemical compound products going through the relevant re-registration process.
The facility is ideal for a range of chemical product developers to complete their regulatory testing requirements, including agri-chemicals, veterinary medicine or pharmaceutical industries.
The dedicated and expert research team at the facility, which consists of three scientists all with first-class degrees and a support technician, will be able to replicate both cold and warm water environments.
“Our team will use the facility, which includes a variety of different sized tanks that offer flow through pumping equipment, to conduct a range of tests that will benefit the various industries that we serve,” said Fera CEO Dr Andrew Swift PhD.
“Studies will include acute 96-hour tests that will be able to determine the levels of legal concentration for a new product, to much longer bio-concentration studies that expose the fish to a higher dosage of the chemicals to determine whether it is absorbed into the organism’s tissue.”
The new aquatic labs will enable studies to be completed to meet the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) regulations, which are a series of global polices and standards that aim to improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.
The facility will add to the range of ecotoxicological test services to support environmental risk assessments for companies developing chemical-based products
