• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.130-138
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• 2004

Food wastes with different regional origins were mixed with bulking agent such as paper mill sludge or night soil, and aged for 21 days or 28 days. And aged food wastes were fed to the earthworm(tiger worm, Eisenia fetida) for 60 days. There were no significant physico-chemical differences among the food wastes with different regional origins. EC values and NaCl concentrations in food wastes were too high for earthworms to survive. Food wastes mixed with paper mill sludge were vermicomposted more efficiently than food wastes mixed with night soil, but the over-all vermicomposting rates on the food wastes were much lower than that on paper mill sludge because EC values and NaCl concentrations were still high for earthworm to compost the feeds. Earthworm population did not increase its biomass on the food wastes mixed with paper mill sludge or night soil, whereas earthworm population fed with paper mill sludge increased its biomass by 20% for 60 days. It could be concluded that a solution for reducing NaCl concentrations in food waste should be developed to vermicompost food waste.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.181-186
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• 2010

Perfluorinated Compounds (PFCs) are anthropogenic compounds found in trace amounts in many environmental compartments far from areas of production. Along with the highly persistent nature of PFCs, there are increasing concerns over the potential adverse effects of them on the ecosystems. Most of highly fluorinated compounds degrade into PFOS and PFOA that are very stable compounds hard to break down. So, in this study, we tried to determine the toxicity of PFOS and PFOA in the terrestrial invertebrate. Acute toxicity test using earthworm, Eisenia fetida, was performed according to the OECD test guideline 207 (Earthworm, Acute Toxicity Tests). In the 14 day acute toxicity tests, the highest concentration causing no mortality and the lowest concentration causing 100% mortality of PFOS were 160 and 655 mg/kg (dry weight), respectively. And the highest concentration causing no mortality and the lowest concentration causing 100% mortality were 500 and 1,690 mg/kg (dry weight), respectively in the PFOA-exposure group. 14 day-LC50 values were estimated at the level of 365 and 1,000 mg/kg (dry weight) in the PFOS and PFOA-exposed group. These results indicate that under laboratory conditions PFOS is about 3 times more toxic to earthworms than PFOA. Based on known environmental concentrations of PFOS in the soil of Korea, which occur in the 0.42~0.73 ng/L range, there is no apparent risk to terrestrial invertebrate, earthworms. However, further work is required to investigate long-term effects on these and other terrestrial organisms.

• Proceedings of the KAIS Fall Conference
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.311-314
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• 2004

Toxicity test fur various synthetic lubricant oil bases derived from biodiesel was carried out. The earthworms(Eisenia fetida) were maintanied in artificial soil consisting of sand for 14 days. Eisenia fetida was cultivated at temperature of $20{\pm}2^{\circ}C$, pH 6.0 $\pm$ 0.5 and moisture of $31\~37\%$. Pentaerythritol(PE) lubricant oil base was tested for acute toxicities to Eisenia fetida. The earthworms were exposed to each lubricant oil with various concentrations of lubricant oil base. After 14 days, the number of surviving earthworms and thier weight alteration during the test period was determined. $LC_{50}$(lethal concentration when $50\%$ of the population were killed) pentaerythritol was determined to be 1,555 mg/kg soil dry weight.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.392-395
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• 2006

The toxic effects of 9 commercially available herbicides on the earthworm, Eisenia fetida (Savigny) were evaluated with recommended dose, 2-fold and 4-fold dose using soil surface spray, immersion and contact filter tests in order to find out whether herbicides actually influence the life of earthworm in the soil or not. In the surface sprayed soil test, the earthworm mortality to nine herbicides were not significantly different from the comparison with the control regardless of level of dose. In the immersion test, the mortality of 4-fold dose was 34% in the napropamide and 64% in the alachlor. In contact filter test, the mortality appeared 80% in alachlor, 37% in napropamide, and 10% in triclopyr at 2-fold dose level and those of 4-fold dose were as follows: napropamide 96%, alachlor 80%, glyphosate 47%, triclopyr 37%, paraquatdichloride 37%; glufosinate ammonium 33%, pyributicarb 10%. As a result of these tests by three methods, the mortality of earthworm in terms of the recommended dose level was no observation about eight herbicides while the napropamide appeared 33% in contact filter test.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.51-64
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• 2023

The sustainable management of rice straw is essential for protection of human health and environment. This study assesses the impact of stock density of earthworm (Eisenia fetida) and Neem leaves (Azadirachta indica) on the quality of the final vermicompost. The vermicompost is produced using different combinations of rice straw, Neem leaves, and cow dung (bulking agent) by varying stock density of earthworms. The vermicomposting experiments are performed in plastic containers (32 cm × 28 cm × 28 cm) in open for 90 days under laboratory conditions. The stock density of the earthworm is found to be an important factor to influence nutritional quality of the final vermicompost. There is observed significant improvement in the total nitrogen (91.8%), phosphate (73.4%), potassium (38.8%), and calcium (59.05%) content of the vermicompost produced with the highest stock density of the earthworms. All the treatments showed decrease in TOC and C:N content after 90 days of vermicomposting. The treatment with Neem leaves showed maximum growth of earthworms (2.65 fold). Neem leaves brought positive changes in the quality of final vermicompost by enhancing the growth and reproduction of the earthworms. The calcium content increased by 39% in the final vermicompost with the addition of Neem leaves at the same stock density of the earthworms. The stock density of the earthworms and Neem leaves are found to significantly improve quality of the final vermicompost as compared with the compost (control). The surface morphology in SEM images showed high degree of fragmentation in the vermicompost as compared with the compost. The combined action of microbes and earthworms resulted in high degree of disintegration in the vermicompost.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.45-53
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• 2010

Feeding rate and growth rate of earthworm population on the variously pretreated spent materials of the agaric-mushroom cultivation were investigated. When the spent mushroom substrates with different aging periods were supplied to earthworm, feeding rate and growth rate of earthworm population on spent mushroom substrates aged less than 10 days were higher than that on spent mushroom substrates aged more than 20 days. Feeding rate and growth rate were not increased when the spent mushroom substrate mixed with vermicasts or nitrogenous fertilizer was supplied. Feeding rate and growth rate on the ground mushroom substrate were higher than that on the non-ground mushroom substrate. Especially when the ground mushroom substrate was mixed with rice bran and supplied to earthworms, growth rate was much higher than that on the non-ground spent mushroom substrate; it increased 1.85 times.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.101-109
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• 2006

Earthworms(Eisenia fetida) were fed with paper mill sludge produced from P&G or Yuhan Kimberly paper manufacturing factory, or cow dung manure. Turnover rate of feed into earthworm biomass and excreting rate on each feed were investigated on dry weight base. Biomass of earthworm population was increased on paper mill sludge, but it was fallen to death on cow dung manure, which had high electrical conductivity and low redox potential. When P&G paper mill sludge was supplied to adult, elder juvenile or younger juvenile for 84 days, turnover rate of feed into earthworm biomass was 0.48, 0.40 and 0.76%, respectively, and on Yuhan Kimberly paper mill sludge 0.26, 0.45, 0.42%. When P&G paper mill sludge was supplied to adult, elder juvenile or younger juvenile, excreting rate was 49.02, 54.32 and 55.39%, respectively and on Yuhan Kimberly paper mill sludge 32.22, 41.86, 40.69%, and on cow dung manure, 73.73, 57.89. 76.38%.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.68-73
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• 2011

The single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) assay is a microelectrophoretic technique for assessments of DNA damage at the level of the individual eukaryotic cell. The SCGE assay, due to its simplicity, sensitivity and need of a few cells, has advantages compared to other genomic damage assays such as sister chromatid exchange, chromosomal aberration and micronucleus test. In this study, investigated were the levels of DNA damage and the repair kinetics in the coelomocytes of Eisenia fetida treated with HgCl2 and ionizing radiation by means of the SCGE assay. For detecting DNA damage and repair in coelomocytes, earthworms (E. fetida) were irradiated with six doses of ${\gamma}$-rays (0, 2.5, 5, 10, 20 and 50 Gy) and in vivo exposed to mercuric chloride at 0, 80 and 160 mg $kg^{-1}$ for 48 hours. Then the Olive tail moments were measured during 0~12 hours after irradiation and 0~72 hours after Hg treatment. The results showed that the more the oxidative stress was induced by mercury and radiation, the longer the repair time was required. Also, the results suggest that the SCGE assay may be used as an important tool for comparison of the sensitivity of different species to oxidative stresses.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.88-93
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• 2007

The abundance of earthworm in the agro-ecosystem was assessed on the basis of 1,846 individuals collected from May to October 2006. Material was found from litter layers in soils by hand sorting and digging. They encompassed 3 families, 5 genera, and 15 species. Species composition and abundance were as follows: Amynthas agrestis 20.9%, Amynthas koreanus 20.3%, Amynthas heteropodus 15.4%, Amynthas sp. 8.7%, Drawida japonica 8.0%, Eisenia fetida 7.2%, Amynthas hilgendorfi 7.0%, Bimastos parvus 3.2%, Amynthas hupeiensis 2.5%, Aporrectodea caliginosa 1.8%, Amynthas corticis 1.8%, Aporrectodea tuberculata 1.3%, Eisenia andrei 1.2%, Amynthas sp. 20.4%, and Amynthas sp. 10.3%. Of 1,046 individuals, the A. agrestis, A. koreanus, and A. heteropodus were the most numerous members with abundance of 56.7%. Disc-shaped male pore region is useful for classification of Amynthas, and in the survey, we collected two new species with male discs from lettuce cultivated region, Amynthas sp. 1 Amynthas sp. 2. The clitellate vs. aclitellate ratio of the earthworm was approximately 1.25:1.0.

• Proceedings of the KSEEG Conference
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.355-357
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• 2007