diff --git a/shared/repositories/tests/integration/conftest.py b/shared/repositories/tests/integration/conftest.py
index 16f25e7..209c951 100644
--- a/shared/repositories/tests/integration/conftest.py
+++ b/shared/repositories/tests/integration/conftest.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 
 import minio
 import pytest
+from dotenv import load_dotenv
 from PIL import Image
 from pymongo import MongoClient
 
@@ -30,24 +31,15 @@ from shared.repositories.src.implementations import (
 # set random seed for reproducibility
 random.seed(13)
 
-# define test static variables
-MINIO_PORT = 9000
-MINIO_ACCESS_KEY = 'minioadmin'
-MINIO_SECRET_KEY = 'minioadmin'
-MONGO_PORT = 27017
-MONGO_USERNAME = 'admin'
-MONGO_PASSWORD = 'password'
+# load loca test environment variables
+test_env_path = Path(__file__).parent.parent.parent.parent.parent / 'test.env'
+load_dotenv('test.env')
 
+# define test environment variables
 env_var_map = {
-    'MINIO_ENDPOINT': f'localhost:{MINIO_PORT}',  # updated when container is running
-    'MINIO_ACCESS_KEY': MINIO_ACCESS_KEY,
-    'MINIO_SECRET_KEY': MINIO_SECRET_KEY,
     'MINIO_BUCKET_NAME': 'test-bucket',
     'MINIO_OBJECT_NAME': 'test-object',
     'MINIO_IMAGE_NAME': 'test-image',
-    'MONGO_ENDPOINT': (
-        f'mongodb://{MONGO_USERNAME}:{MONGO_PASSWORD}@localhost:{MONGO_PORT}/'
-    ),  # updated when container is running
     'MONGO_DB': 'test-db',
     'MONGO_COLLECTION': 'test-collection',
 }