Principle of Biodegradation Liquid Tests

Anne Calmon-Decriaud, Wronique Bellon-Maurel, Fran oise Silvestre 

The respiration test can be either static (closed bottle) or continuous (air supplying). The advantage of static systems is that there are few risks of leakage and the set-up is fairly simple,but these tests use a destructive process which implies problems of reproducibility and of dimensions. For instance, in the OECD 301F test, 20 bottles are necessary to assess the biodegradability of only one material. On the other hand, the advantage of continuous systems is that they are nondestructive, a kinetic study is possible and it is possible to automate the measurement. However, the set-up is complex and leakage is possible. 

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