New Jersey Administrative Code
Title 7 - ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Chapter 18 - REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE CERTIFICATION OF LABORATORIES AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENTS
Subchapter 7 - TOXICITY TESTING
Section 7:18-7.3 - Laboratory equipment, instruments and materials

i. The laboratory shall use only materials listed as "Approved" in Table 7.3 below for the type of test organism in question.

ii. The laboratory shall use glass, stainless steel, ceramic and perfluorocarbon plastics whenever possible for components that come in contact with wastewater samples;

iii. If the laboratory uses silicone, polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, Tygon(R), polycarbonate and polystyrene plastics for a component that comes in contact with wastewater samples, it shall either discard the component after a single use, or demonstrate that the component can be decontaminated, without significant degradation, by one or more cleaning procedures listed in N.J.A.C. 7:18-7.4(c). To demonstrate that the component can be decontaminated, the laboratory shall:

iv. The use of polyvinylchloride, fiberglass, and acrylics shall only be for holding, acclimating, and rearing system components and for dilution water storage and delivery system components. Before use, the laboratory shall test every batch of these materials for toxicity to the pertinent test organisms. The laboratory shall retain the documentation of such tests;

v. The laboratory shall not use Tygon(R) for components used in an invertebrate testing, holding, acclimating or rearing system except for Mysids. If the laboratory uses bakelite components in an invertebrate testing, holding, acclimating or rearing system, and if that bakelite is heated to sterilization temperatures, the laboratory shall not allow any other system components to come in contact with either the bakelite or the fumes arising from the bakelite;

vi. The laboratory shall not use in toxicity testing any material that is not listed in Table 7.3, without first obtaining the Department's written approval. To obtain the Department's approval, the laboratory shall test the material's toxicity to the pertinent test organisms and submit documentation of the testing to the Department. The Department shall approve the material only if the documentation demonstrates that the material does not exhibit toxic or subtoxic effects (that is, decreased brood size in invertebrate test organisms) to the test organisms; and

vii. Except for materials labeled and sold as either, "medical grade" or "food grade," the laboratory shall clean all new materials before using them. The laboratory shall follow the following cleaning procedure:

i. Provides an adequate supply of dilution water to maintain 24 hours of continuous operation. The system shall obtain the supply from a dilution water reservoir, or by direct continuous pumping from the source of the water;

ii. Is capable of metering the flow of dilution water and sample into a mixing chamber for the determination of concentrations. The system shall use a constant head box or metering pumps to meter the flow of dilution water and sample;

iii. Uses mixing chambers to ensure complete mixing of dilution water and sample before dispensing solutions into the exposure chambers;

iv. Uses separate delivery tubes to transmit the dilution water and sample from the flow splitters, after the mixing chambers, to each of the replicate exposure chambers;

v. Provides a flow rate through the exposure chambers that results in at least five 90 percent water volume changes every 24 hours, and that is sufficient to maintain dissolved oxygen in the exposure chambers in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:18-7.5(h);

vi. Provides a flow rate through the exposure chambers that does not vary by more than +/-10 percent among all exposure chambers or +/-five percent within any given exposure chamber throughout the duration of the test;

vii. Maintains the test concentration in each exposure chamber within +/-five percent of the starting concentration for the duration of the test;

viii. Should be designed to maintain a constant temperature in the exposure chambers within +/-two degrees Celsius of the specified test temperature;

ix. Is designed to curtail automatically the delivery of the sample to the mixing chambers if the supply of dilution water to the mixing chamber is interrupted;

x. Is designed to prevent the test organisms from entering the overflow outlets in the exposure chambers;

xi. Is capable of maintaining at least five separate effluent dilutions and a control containing dilution water with replicate exposure chambers; and

xii. Has had its exposure chamber flow rate, exposure chamber effluent concentration accuracy, and test solution temperatures checked and calibrated initially and at least once per day for the duration of the test, including the last day of the test. The laboratory shall keep records of these calibrations in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:18-7.7(i), and make them available to the Department during an inspection of the laboratory.

i. Are constructed of non-toxic materials that satisfy the requirements of (a)1 above;

ii. Include devices for temperature control, or are located in a temperature-controlled room;

iii. Are constructed for ease of cleaning and the prevention of waste material build-up; and

iv. If used for vertebrate species, are shielded from outside disturbances. The laboratory may shield the chamber either by isolating it in a low-traffic area, or by shielding it individually. If the materials used to shield a chamber individually will contact the culture media, the laboratory shall use materials that satisfy the requirements of (a)1 above.

i. Can accommodate the testing of fish species in containers with a test solution at least five centimeters (cm) deep;

ii. If fabricated from non-seamless stainless steel, have welded seams rather than soldered seams;

iii. If fabricated from lead-free glass, are made in one piece or made with the use of clear silicone adhesive, of the type approved by the manufacturer for use in aquaria, to bond the seams. The laboratory shall expose as little of the silicone adhesive to the test solution as possible. Extra beads of adhesive shall be placed only on the outside of containers; and

iv. Are designed to keep the surface areas as small as possible in relation to their volume, in order to limit sorption to the vessel walls. Containers to be used with flow-through tests shall be designed to keep the liquid surface area/volume ratio as small as possible in order to reduce loss of volatile substances.

i. Satisfies the requirements of N.J.A.C. 7:18-3.3(a)2;

ii. Has a range of at least 0 to 40 grams;

iii. Is readable within 0.1 grams;

iv. Provides reproducibility of at least +/-0.05 grams.

i. A light meter capable of measuring in Lux or footcandles in the range of at least 0 to 200 footcandles;

ii. Medicine droppers or pipettes with 1.0 to 3.0 mm bores;

iii. Borosilicate glass beakers with covers, or test chambers made of another approved material under (a)1 above; and

iv. All testing equipment to be constructed with materials as approved for invertebrates in (a)1 above.

i. The laboratory shall use only wide-mouthed containers equipped either with stoppers, screw caps or an equivalent closure;

ii. The laboratory shall use only containers and cap liners constructed of materials approved under (a)1 above; and

iii. The laboratory shall clean each container after each use, in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:18-7.4(c).

i. The laboratory shall use either wide-mouthed glass containers, disposable unplasticized plastic containers, or disposable unplasticized plastic liners for containers that are leakproof and constructed of materials meeting the requirements of (a)1;

ii. The laboratory shall not reuse containers made of materials listed in (a)1ii above unless they have been cleaned in accordance with N.J.A.C. 7:18-7.4(c);

iii. The laboratory shall discard after one use any containers made of materials specified in (a)1iii above, and not cleaned and reused unless the laboratory has demonstrated pursuant to (a)1iii above that the container can be decontaminated without significant degradation;

iv. Container closures shall be leakproof and constructed of materials meeting the requirements of (a)1 above; and

v. The laboratory shall store containers in a manner that prevents contamination.