• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.27-36
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• 2024

This study, estimates the predicted no effect concentration (PNEC) for the protection of organisms in aquatic and soil environments, considering the mode of action of Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). PNECs were derived using the species sensitivity distribution (SSD) approach to estimate the hazardous concentration for 5% of species (HC5), with applying assessment factors. Chronic toxicity data on PFOS were collected through the USEPA's ECOTOX database and literature reviews, and classified by toxicity endpoints. PNECs were then derived for each of seven toxicity endpoints that met the criteria for SSD fitting. For aquatic organisms, the PNEC for PFOS, based on all available chronic toxicity data, was determined to be 0.53 ㎍/L. The PNECs for development, genetics, enzymes, growth, reproduction, population, and biochemical biomarkers were 0.28, 0.43, 0.83, 0.90, 2.17, 111.17, and 3.53 ㎍/L, respectively. The lowest PNEC was observed when the toxic endpoint was set as development, which is considered to be due to the mode of action of PFOS, known to cause developmental toxicity by disrupting the endocrine system of organisms. For soil organisms, toxicity data were insufficient to estimate PNECs for individual endpoints, so all available data were used to estimate a PNEC of 0.75 mg/kg. Estimating PNECs that consider the mode of action of contaminants is expected to reduce the likelihood of underestimating protection levels for environmental contaminants. Additionally, this study highlights the need for ecotoxicological assessments for individual toxicity endpoints of emerging contaminants, including Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in soil environments.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.371-381
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• 2015

The object of this study was to obtain single oral dose toxicity of Arisaema Rhizome (Arisaema amurense f. serratum (Nakai) Kitag) aqueous extracts. Arisaema Rhizome (Chunnamsong in Korean) is one of the most important folk remedy plants used in Asia. In the study, a 28-day rat oral gavage study has been conducted with the extracts from Arisaema Rhizome at dose of 1,250, 2,500 and 5,000 ㎎/㎏/day. The following endpoints were evaluated: clinical observations, body weight, gross and microscopic pathology, clinical chemistry, and hematology. Based on the analysis of these endpoints, it was estimated that NOEL (no observed effect level) for male rats and NOAEL (no observed adverse effect level) for female rats are 5000 ㎎/㎏/day of the water-extracts from Arisaema Rhizome.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.132-132
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• 2003

In this GLP study, 4 study groups of 12 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats/sex were given vehicle, or 1,000, 1,500, or 2,000 mg/kg/day Sophora Japonica Linne Seed Extract (SE) for 13 weeks. Standard endpoints in this study included mortality, clinical observations, body weight, food and water consumption, ophthalmoscopic examination, urinalysis, hematology, serum biochemistry, organ weights, gross anatomic pathology and histopathology.(omitted)

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.313-319
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• 2012

Various nanomaterials may flow into the aquatic ecosystem via production, use, and treatment processes. Especially, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were categorized as manufactured nanomaterials presented by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (OECD WPMN) in 2010. AuNPs have been used in medical area, however, they were reported to induce cytotoxicity and oxidative DNA damage, as well as down-regulation of the DNA repair gene in mice and human cell lines. In this study, the aquatic toxicity data of AuNPs and gold ions were collected, with the specific test methods analyzed with respect to the form and size of AuNPs, test species, exposure duration, and endpoints. Currently, aquatic toxicity data of AuNPs and gold ions have been presented in 14 studies including 4 fish, 6 crustacean, 2 green algae, and 2 macrophytes studies, as well as a further 8 studies including 4 fish, 4 crustacean, 1 platyhelminthes, and 1 green algae, respectively. The AuNPs were 0.8-100 nm in size, as gold nanoparticles, gold nanorod, glycodendrimer-coated gold nanoparticles, and amine-coated gold nanoparticles. The tested endpoints were the individual toxicities, such as mortality, malformation, reproduction inhibition, growth inhibition and genetic toxicity such as oxidative stress, gene expression, and reactive oxygen species formation. The accumulation of AuNPs was also confirmed in the various receptor organs. These results are expected to be useful in understanding the aquatic toxicity of AuNPs and gold ions, as well as being applicable to future toxicity studies on AuNPs.

• Environmental Mutagens and Carcinogens
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.113-117
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• 2001

The screening of various molecular descriptors for predicting carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic activities of chlorinated aliphatic compounds as drinking water disinfection byproducts (DBPs) has been investigated for the application of quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR). The present work embodies the study of relationship between molecular descriptors and toxicity parameters of the genotoxicity endpoints for the screening of relevant molecular descriptors. The toxicity Indices for 29 compounds constituting the testing set were computed by the PASS program and active values were chosen. We investigate feasibility of screening descriptors and of their applications among different genotoxic endpoints. The correlation to teratogenicity of all 29 compounds was significantly improved when the same analysis was done with 20 alkanes only without alkene compounds. The HOMO (highest occupied molecular orbital) energy and number of Cl parameters were dominantly contributed.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 2011

In this study, the Comet assay (evaluation of DNA damage) used the fish hepatocellular carinoma cell, PLHC-1, was tried to the sediment extract obtained from freshwater to understand its applicability as a tool for monitoring sediment toxicity. In parallel, induced EROD (7-ethoxyresorufin- O-deethylase) activity and DNA damage (TEM values) in PLHC-1 cells were measured for establishing the tandem endpoints of the PLHC-1cell test to test the ecotoxicity of sediment. Among several study sites in a small river passed through downtown and industrial park area, one of them, site B, showed a higher level of EROD activity and DNA damage than other sites. It indicates that a tandem endpoints of PLHC-1 cells could be useful tools for assessing the toxicity of sediment. The sensitivity of Comet assay with PLHC-1 cells was a little higher than that with a blood cell of frog tadpoles to the solvent extract of sediment. According to the results, a PLHC-1 cell-Comet assay could be used as a useful tool for evaluating ecotoxicity of the freshwater sediment. In addition, more detailed studies are needed to the contaminated site.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2010

Monitoring toxicity levels in specific biological compartments is necessary to evaluate the ecotoxicological risk associated with soil environmental pollution. Gene expression, as potential biomarker, is increasingly used as rapid early warning systems in environmental monitoring and ecological risk assessment procedures. Various representative species are currently used for the purpose of assessing soil toxicity, however, investigations on toxicological assessments using endpoint based on gene-level have been limited. In this review, we will present the current trends in organisms and endpoints used in soil toxicity study and report gene expression related to toxicity using soil organism, and C. elegans as promising organisms for this approach.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.54-59
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• 2006

The toxicity of cadmium on Caenorhabditis elegans was investigated to identify sensitive biomarkers for environmental monitoring and risk assessment. Stress-related gene expression were estimated as toxic endpoints Cadmium exposure led to an increase in the expression of most of the genes tested. The degree of increase was more significant in heat shock protein-16.1, metallothionein-2, cytochrome p450 family protein 35A2, glutathione S-transferase-4, superoxide dismutase-1, catalase-2, C. elegans p53-like protein-1, and apoptosis enhancer-1 than in other genes. The overall results indicate that the stress-related gene expressions of C. elegans have considerable potential as sensitive biomarkers for cadmium toxicity monitoring and risk assessment.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.23 no.2 s.58
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• pp.98-105
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• 2005

The relative sensitivity of two freshwater non- biting midges, Chironomus yoshimatsui Martin and Sublette and C. riparius Meigan, was examined for lead, cadmium, and mercury in water- only exposures. Two endpoints were compared to assess toxicity 48 h and 96 h after exposure: Acute toxicity ($50\%$ lethal concentration: $LC_50$) and behavioral toxicity ($50\%$ effective concentration: $EC_{50}$). for the behavioral toxicity, reduction of swimming performance of two midge species in the treated conditions was compared to that in the untreated control. The sensitivities differed depending on the species and heavy metals, although some trends emerged. $LC_50$ values in C. yoshimatsui to cadmium and lead were always higher than those in C. riparius with increasing toxicity, regardless of the exposure times. The opposit was true for the mercury treatment. Similar trends were observed in the $EC_{50}$ values. The $EC_{50}$ values were always lower than the $LC_50$ values in all the treatment cases (midge species, heavy metals, and exposure times). These results indicate that the two midge species respond to the heavy metals differently: C. riparius is sensive to cadmium and lead and C. yoshimatsui to mercury. Behavioral toxicity such as swimming performance can be an effective endpoint for assessing heavy metal toxicity in water.

• Clean Technology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.27-33
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• 2017

In this study, toxicities of seven metals (Cu, Cd, Cr, As(III), As(V), Zn, Ni) and five metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs: CuO, ZnO, NiO, $TiO_2$, $Fe_2O_3$) were evaluated based on the growth of Chlorella vulgaris. Effect on algae growth was evaluated by integrating the results of absorption, chlorophyll content, and cell count. The toxicity rankings of metals was observed as Cr ($0.7mgL^{-1}$) > Cu ($1.7mgL^{-1}$) > Cd ($3.2mgL^{-1}$) > Zn ($3.9mgL^{-1}$) > Ni ($13.2mgL^{-1}$) > As(III) ($17.8mgL^{-1}$) ${\gg}$ As(V) (> $1000mgL^{-1}$). Slightly different orders and sensitivities of metal toxicity were examined depending on endpoints of algal growth. In case of NPs, regardless of endpoints, similar toxicity rankings of NPs ($TEC_{50}$) were observed, showing ZnO ($2.4mgL^{-1}$) > NiO ($21.1mgL^{-1}$) > CuO ($36.6mgL^{-1}$) > $TiO_2$ ($62.5mgL^{-1}$) > $Fe_2O_3$ ($82.7mgL^{-1}$). These results indicate that an integrating results of endpoints might be an effective strategy for the assessment of contaminants.