Technical Bulletin No. 0011: Methods for the Detection and Measurement of Toxic Components of Kraft Pulp Mill Wastes

The studies reported in the attached Technical Bulletin were first reported on by the National Council in 1947. At that time the aquatic biology project in progress at the Institute of Paper Chemistry had been in progress for two years and was concerned with two related problems, namely (1) the toxic effects of kraft pulping wastes on typical fish food organisms and (2) the development of methods for the detection and measurement of toxic components of kraft wastes. This Technical Bulletin reports on the results of the second of these investigations. It was suggested then that kraft mills located on streams where fish problems were current, consider the advisability of installing test procedures and equipment for measuring the toxicity levels of their effluents. Such procedures were set forth in this Technical Bulletin. Since then the National Council has continued to concern itself with the development of analytical procedures for determining the presence of constituents known to produce adverse biological effects, as well as bioassay procedures for detecting such effects.