Ecotoxicology Research Facility
Our mission statement
Arkansas State University Ecotoxicology Research Facility (ERF) is a multi-user laboratory facilitating intercollegiate research and collaboration with other universities, state and federal agencies, industries, and various interest groups. The ERF utilizes standard US EPA test protocols and develops innovative techniques to measure environmental parameters and investigate ecosystem function. As a US EPA certified laboratory we specialize in laboratory and in situ biomonitoring to measure fate and effects of known and emerging contaminants for use in environmental forecasting. Ongoing Quality Control, Quality Assurance, and Good Laboratory Practice within the ERF result in scientifically sound research for use in environmental management decisions.
The ERF is located on the A-State Campus. Our Northeast Arkansas community is home to diverse industries including agriculture, food processing, manufacturing, service and retail. Jonesboro is a progressive community supporting and interacting with the University through its public services and interest groups.
Our Service Offerings
Services incorporated into the Facility include biomonitoring of effluents in support of discharge requirements in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. The laboratory has maintained annual certification through the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since 1996. The facility performs chronic and acute Whole Effluent Testing for municipalities and industries and results are provided with report formatting for all Discharge Monitoring Reports. Quality Assurance, Quality Control, and internal reviews are incorporated within our research as a component of Good Laboratory Practice at our facility.
Ecotoxicological research within the Environmental Sciences Program has to date been conducted with investigators specializing in various areas.
Our Research Laboratory
The ERF maintains aquatic vertebrate and invertebrate cultures, sediment test organisms, and freshwater algae. Our core facility is located on the campus of Arkansas State University. An expansion in 2011 of 487 ft2 added space for equipment and sample preparation and brings total ERF space to 4237 ft2. The facility is currently certified by the US EPA for Acute and Chronic Whole Effluent Testing (Certification # AR-00917).
Specific research areas are designated for acute and chronic testing, algal culturing, invertebrate and vertebrate culturing, biomarker assessment and computational and analytical analyses. Our research infrastructure includes a Conviron® Growth Chamber, incubators, ample refrigerator and freezer storage, access to ultracold (-80C) freezer storage, shaker tables, testing and computational areas. Newly acquired equipment includes a GC-MS, Dionex ASE extraction system, microbalances, and OI-DA3500 analyzer. We also have distinct fish and sediment organism culture rooms, an invertebrate culture room, sediment test area with 196-beaker capacity, and an area reserved for specialty testing setup. Additional research areas are available for microbial analyses, sediment particle size characterization, nutrient and total suspended solids, and aqueous physicochemical analysis.
Our research includes pesticide interactions within soils, soil microbial activity, hydroponic pesticide uptake and partitioning in aquatic macrophytes, aquatic toxicity and food chain transfer of nanoparticles, new product testing, watershed and habitat assessments. The ERF offers periodic workshops for Wastewater Treatment Managers and Water Operator Training for continuing education purposes. These workshops fulfill 8 hrs of continuing education through the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and Arkansas Department of Health.
Research Areas, Services & Clientele
- Toxicology
- Aquatic Biology
- Phytoremediation
- Limnology
- Ichthyology
- Botany
- Entomology
- Herpetology
- Wetland Ecology
- Spatial Analysis (GIS)
- Avian Ecology
- Microbiology
- Biochemistry
- Geochemistry
- Habitat Assessment
- Storm Water Monitoring
- Watershed Assessment
- Edge-of-Field Monitoring
- Native Pollinators in Regional Soybean Fields
Arkansas State University's Ecotoxicology Research Facility is a US EPA certified test laboratory offering a variety of services including Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) testing. In-house cultures are maintained to insure the availability and quality of test organisms. The ERF uses high quality water for culturing to give our organisms the best environment possible. Strict quality control on our culture waters, culture and test procedures, and organisms is maintained. Reference toxicity tests are performed monthly to insure the health and condition of our aquatic test organisms.
Aquatic test organisms:
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Pimephales promelas
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Ceriodaphnia dubia
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Daphnia pulex
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Daphnia magna
Sediment test organisms:
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Chironomous dilutus (previous nomenclature C. tentans)
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Hyalella azteca
Freshwater algae species:
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Raphidocelis subcapitata (previous nomenclature Selenastrum capricornutum)
Stormwater Testing:
- BOD
- TSS
- Ph
- Oil and Grease
The ERF is experienced and capable of providing WET testing, sediment, bioaccumulation, and instream investigations for industry and municipalities. We are certified to perform NPDES chronic and acute testing in the state of Arkansas and results are provided with report formatting for all Discharge Monitoring Reports.
Our experience and interests also includes habitat and community assessments, in situ biomonitoring, and stream evaluations.
A-State ERF provides services to the following municipal & industrial clients:
- Jonesboro City Water & Light
- Jacobs, Fayetteville, AR
- Norfork National Fish Hatchery
- Mammoth Spring River Fish Hatchery
- AECI Dell Power
- City of Berryville
Testing has also been provided for:
- CIBA Specialty, Inc.
- WaterSolve, LLC
- Syngenta Crop Protection
- FlocMax, LLC
The ERF's experienced and capable researchers and technicians provide WET testing and reports in fulfillment of NPDES discharge permits. Our experience includes product testing for EPA registration, instream investigations, and aqueous and sediment impairment testing.
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