scattered throughout the country. The best work on environmental require- 

 ments in this period was that of M.M. Ellis and his staff. His paper on 

 "Detection and Measurement of Stream Pollution" has become a classic. His 

 recommendation of a minimum of 5 mg/liter of 2 for a well-rounded fish 

 population is still being used. It is good because it is based on field 

 studies in a large number of streams. Mention should be made of the 

 research carried on during the 1940's and 1950's at the University of 

 Toronto and its field station by F.E.J. Fry. His work and that of his 

 students had a great deal of influence on research on environmental 

 requirements. His leadership and foresight made his laboratory a world 

 leader in temperature and oxygen-requirement studies. In the mid-1950' s a 

 long-term study of the oxygen requirements of fishes was initiated at the 

 cooperative water pollution laboratory of the Biology Section of the Robert 

 A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center and Oregon State University under the 

 direction of Doudoroff and Warren. 



The passage of the Water Quality Act of 1965 and the Clean Water Act of 

 1966 requiring the states to establish water quality standards stimulated 

 country-wide research on water quality requirements. This legislation and 

 increased public awareness of the ever-increasing detrimental effects of 

 water pollution due to population increases, industrial development, and 

 new highly toxic products caused an increase of research efforts in 

 freshwater, estuarine, and marine environments. The growth in size and 

 number of thermal electric generating plants and the construction of 

 nuclear plants caused a phenomenal increase in studies on the effects of 

 temperature on the aquatic environment. The great increase in sea 

 transport of oil and the Torrey Canyon spill brought a similar increase in 

 studies of the effects of petroleum products on the aquatic environment. 

 In addition, for about 30 years the toxicity of pesticides (insecticides, 

 herbicides, algicides, fungicides, etc.) and their effects on aquatic and 

 terrestrial non-target species including man had been an ongoing problem. 

 Water pollution hearings and enforcement actions requiring hard evidence 

 brought the water quality researchers to the front lines for the presenta- 

 tion of data, the collection of evidence, and the recommendation of 

 criteria and standards. 



The increased and broadened research due to the above factors produced 

 a tremendous increase in the use of bioassays. With the expansion of the 

 investigations into the marine environment, there was a great increase in 

 the use of different groups and species as test organisms, creating a need 

 for additional bioassay methods. In 1966 the standard bioassay methods 

 committee began to prepare materials for the 13th edition of "Standard 

 Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater." Subcommittees were 

 set up in each of the water quality laboratories and prominent investiga- 

 tors in other federal agencies and the states were invited to serve on the 

 committee. Although I, as chairman, wished to include new methods for 

 marine organisms, the committee felt the tests were not yet well developed, 

 and the only new material in the 13th edition, printed in 1971, dealt in 

 the long-term tests for fishes. 



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