Patent ID: 6964857

Claim:
A method of testing water to detect the presence of at least one chemical or biological warfare agent comprising the steps of: a. establishing control data by: (1) providing control water, said control water being essentially free of chemical and biological warfare agents, said control water comprising water and indigenous photosynthetic organisms living in said water; (2) admitting said control water into a fluorometer; and (3) measuring, by fluorescence induction, photosynthetic activity exclusively of said indigenous photosynthetic organisms contained in said control sample to produce control data; b. producing test data by: (1) providing test water suspected of containing a chemical or biological warfare agent comprising water and indigenous photosynthetic organisms that are the same as in the control water living in said water; (2) admitting said test water into a fluorometer; and (3) measuring, by fluorescence induction, photosynthetic activity exclusively of said indigenous photosynthetic organisms contained in said sample to produce test data; and c. comparing said test data to said control data to detect the presence in said test water of at least one warfare agent selected from the group consisting of chemical warfare agents and biological warfare agents.