• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.287-293
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• 2007

Heavy metal contamination and biological toxicity of mine drainages and sediments in abandoned mines were studied. Mine drainages had pH at a range of 2.94~7.86, and contained heavy metals at a toxic level. For coal mines, toxicity of mine drainage to Daphnia magna was attributable to acidic pH. In addition to the low pH, suspended heavy metals such as Zn and Cu contributed to toxicity of mine drainages at abandoned metalliferous mines. All mine sediments studied in this work showed biological toxicity to Chironomus riparius, having mortality at a range of 15~60%. However, its relationship with physicochemical properties including heavy metal content of the sediments was not statistically explained. Exceptionally clay ($< 2{\mu}m$ particle) content was negatively correlated with the biological toxicity for sediment samples collected at the same abandoned mines.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.556-562
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• 2017

Heavy metals in water systems are being managed on the concentration-based guidelines in Korea. However, various chemicals present in water can interact with heavy metals affecting their toxicity. Such interactions are not considered in the concentration-based guidelines. This study investigated the effect of hardness and coexisting heavy metals on heavy metal toxicity to emphasize the importance of having the effect-based guidelines together with the concentration-based guidelines in water management. The toxic effects of Cd, Zn, or mixtures of Cd and Zn were studied with Daphnia magna as a test species following the standard test method at different hardness conditions (100, 200, and $300mg\;L^{-1}$ as $CaCO_3$). The toxicities of single metal solutions and mixtures showed a decreasing trend with increasing hardness, and this can be attributed to the competition between heavy metals and cations such as calcium ions ($Ca^{2+}$) that cause hardness. The predicted toxicities of the heavy metal mixtures from the single metal toxicity deviated from the measured toxicities, and the predicted toxic effects tend to be greater than the measured toxic effects suggesting that Cd and Zn are in competition. This shows the limitations of using predicted toxic effects and the needs for further studies on mixture toxicities. Overall, this study shows that the management of heavy metals in waters needs to employ the effect-based guidelines together with the concentration-based guidelines.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.279-285
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• 2007

Toxicity evaluations using oxygen uptake rate (OUR) on activated sludge process were investigated. On toxicity evaluations of heavy metals, all toxicants in experiments decreased OUR with respect to the concentrations of the toxicants, while high toxicities with cyanide and mercury were observed respectively. On toxicity evaluations of composite heavy metals, composite toxicities had similar results as to the total sum of each toxicants that presents accurate toxicity evaluation using OUR. From these results, it is concluded that activated sludge is effective indicator for toxicity evaluation on wastewater of biological treatment plants.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.1211-1214
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• 2003

The anomalies that appear at every multiple of 15 ℃ in the viscosity of a thin liquid film of water and of water near solid interfaces are explained in this paper by comparing the thermal wavelength and molecular free volume of water, and quantum numbers are found. The possibility that these anomalies are related to the preferred and/or lethal temperatures of organisms is considered. The toxicity of heavy water (D₂O) can also be explained with this approach.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.305-310
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• 2003

A rapid, inexpensive enzymatic method is proposed for indirect water quality testing in terms of heavy metal toxicity. The activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase was applied for heavy metal toxicity test as an effective criterion in water quality. The toxicity of Pb (lead) and Cd (cadmium) for water flea, Moina macrocopa, were evaluated for 2-8 days with variables of mobilization ability. And the reproduction impairment of Moina macrocopa were investigated as the parameter of chronic toxicity test for Pb and Cd. As a result, the EC$_{50}$ for immobilization of Moina macrocopa were Pb and Cd were 1.6749 and 0.4683, respectively. The values of reproductive impairment to Moina macrocopa for Pb and Cd were 9.5938 and 8.3264 in EC$_{50}$ A significant alteration of G6PDH (Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) activity of Moina macrocopa was observed when Cd and Pb were treated in media. The results obtained indicate that G6PDH activity of Moina macrocopa can be used as an indicative parameter in aquatic toxicity tests for heavy metals.als.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 2008

A rapid, inexpensive enzymatic method is proposed for indirect water quality testing in terms of heavy metal toxicity. The activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase was applied for heavy metal toxicity test as an effective criterion in water quality. The toxicity of Pb (lead) and Cd (cadmium) for water flea, Moina macrocopa, were evaluated for $2{\sim}8\;days$ with variables of mobilization ability. And the reproduction impairment of Moina macrocopa were investigated as the parameter of chronic toxicity twst for Pb and Cd. As a result, the $EC_{50}$ for immobilization of Moina macrocopa were Pb and Cd were 1.6749 and 0.4683, respectively. The values of reproducive impairment to Moina macrocopa for Pb and Cd were 9.5938 and 8.3264 in $EC_{50}$. A significant alteration of G6PDH (Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) activity of Moina macrocopa was observed when Cd and Pb were treated in media. The results obtained indicate that G6PDH activity of Moina macrocopa can be used as an indicative parameter in aquatic toxicity tests for heavy metals.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.81-86
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• 2016

Heavy metal pollution in agricultural fields at the abandoned metal mines has been serious problems in Korea. In order to manage heavy metal pollution in surface water and soil, numerous remediation strategies have been established. Therefore, main purpose of this research was to examine feasibility of ecological toxicity assessment for establishing management strategy in heavy metal polluted agricultural fields. Heavy metal concentration in surface water and soil was monitored along with ecotoxicity experiment with Daphnia magna and Eisenia fetida. Result showed that high toxicity was observed in heavily polluted agricultural field with heavy metals. In case of mortality of Daphnia magna (85%) and Eisenia fetida (6.7%), the highest ratio was observed when heavy metal concentration in surface and soil was high. Calculated ecotoxicity index (EI) ranged 0.06-0.30 and the highest EI was observed in heavily polluted sites among 5 abandoned metal mines. Overall, ecological toxicity assessment is necessary to evaluate heavy metal pollution in agricultural fields near at the abandoned metal mines along with chemical concentration analysis.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.171-177
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• 2012

This research investigates how using algae as an ecotoxicological test species is easier than using daphnia for identifying toxic causative substances. From the results of the ecotoxicity measurements on the Shihwa lake and its tributaries, heavy metals were considered as one of major factors in causing toxicity. The algae ecotoxicity value was 9.6 while the daphnia ecotoxicity value was 0.8 in the Jeongwang stream. By using algae as the test species, we could identify the toxicity that causes heavy metals which might otherwise have been missed with only daphnia. The results from the EDTA addition test showed that zinc and copper were the main toxic causative substances in the Jeongwang stream and Gunja stream.

• 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.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.403-408
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• 2014

The toxicity of heavy metals (Zn, Pb) and diesel, in single and binary solution was investigated using the photobacterium Vibrio fischeri (Microtox test) as a test organism. In this experiment, the concentration of water soluble fraction of diesel was based on the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH). The toxicity of each single compound showed the following $EC_{50}$ (15min): Zn 1.90 mg/L, Pb 0.31 mg/L, TPH 2.09 mg/L. The observed toxicity of binary mixtures increased, depending on the concentration of the mixed substance. The effects were defined as synergistic, antagonistic, or additive, in accordance with the sign of difference between the predicted and observed toxicity at binary mixtures. The interactive effects between zinc and lead were synergistic, on the other hand, antagonistic and additive effects were found in each metal and TPH mixtures on the bioluminescence of V. fischeri.