• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.87-91
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• 2008

In this study, three different sizes of cerium oxide ($CeO_2$) nanoparticles were synthesized and exposed to Caenorhabditis elegans to investigate the potential harmful effect of $CeO_2$ nanoparticles on the environment. The effects of the $CeO_2$ nanoparticles on C. elegans were assessed at multiple levels, such as with respect to stress response gene expression, growth, reproduction and mortality. Moreover, to test the ecotoxicological relevance of $CeO_2$-induced gene expression. The overall results suggest that $CeO_2$ nanoparticles may provoke ecotoxicity in C. elegans especially with respect to gene expression, reproduction and survival, which can comprise an important contribution to knowledge on the ecotoxicity of $CeO_2$ nanoparticles, about which little data are available. This is particularly valuable in the biomarker research on ecotoxicology, as ecological relevance is a crucial criterion for the applicability of the biomarker in field biomonitoring and ecological risk assessment.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.15-24
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• 2014

Soil pollution has been recognized as a serious problem because it causes groundwater pollution through medium contacts. Although concentration of individual chemical could be more easily measured by physico-chemical analysis, it is not easy to consider the bioavailability of edaphic receptors living in soil or groundwater. To measure the toxicity of soil, the soil extracts (soil elutriates or soil suspensions in the other words) are often used due to the difficulties of extracting soil pore water. In this study, we reviewed 15 toxicity test methods found in literature to analyze the detail of each extraction method and to recommend the most frequently used extraction methods. The identified most commonly used extraction methods are as following: The 1 : 4 soil:water ratio, 24 hours shaking time, room temperature, dark, and separation of supernatant using a $0.45{\mu}m$ pore size filter.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.1087-1093
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• 2011

The mixotrophic marine ciliate Mesodinium rubrum possesses a highly modified algal endosymbiont as a nutrition source for the species. Accordingly, we assumed that the species can reflect the ecotoxicity on marine producer (as phytoplankton) and consumer (as zooplankton) both. A series of experiments were conducted to identify the potential of the species as a standard test species for marine ecotoxicological study. The comparison of species sensitivity on reference toxic materials was made using potassium dichromate for phytoplankton and copper chloride for zooplankton. The ciliate revealed the highest sensitivity on both reference materials among the seven test species including phytoplankton, benthic copepod and rotifer species. The toxicity end point of the species was 72hr-$EC_{50}$=1.52 mg/L (as potassium dichromate) estimated by population growth inhibition (PGI), which is more sensitive than the most sensitive phytoplankton Skeletonema costatum (72hr-$EC_{50}$=3.05 mg/L). As comparison to rotifer, it also revealed higher sensitivity on copper chloride; 72hr-$EC_{50}$=0.38 mg/L for ciliate and 48hr-$EC_{50}$=0.48 mg/L for rotifer. Also, the elutriate toxicity test of various ocean disposal wastes were conducted to identify the potential of ciliate toxicity test application using industrial waste sludges. The toxicity of leather processing waste sludge was highest on the ciliate, followed by dyeing waste sludge and dye production waste sludge as an increasing order of toxicity. 72h-$EC_{50}$ of ciliate PGI test was 1.83% and that of S. costatum 3.84% for leather waste sludge which showed highest toxicity. The toxicity test results also revealed that the highest sensitivity was observed on ciliate species on ocean disposed sludge wastes. Also, ciliate toxicity test well discriminated the degree of toxicity between sludge sources; 72h-$EC_{50}$ values were 1.83% for leather processing waste sludge, 16.75% for dye production waste sludge and 27.75% for textile production waste sludge. Even the laboratory culture methods of the species were not generally established yet, the species has high potential as the standard test species for marine toxicity test in terms of the dual reflection of phyto- and zooplankton toxicity from single test, sensitivity and test replicability.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.5-11
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• 2014

In this study, chemical analysis and ecotoxicity tests of leachate from disposal site for foot-and-mouth disease carcasses (FMD leachate) were conducted to collect fundamental data that will be used to develop environmental risk assessment tools for FMD leachate. For chemical analysis, concentration of $Cl^-$, $NH{_4}{^+}-N$, Korea standard method indicators for detection of leachate released from animal carcasses burial site into groundwater and NRN (Ninhydrin-Reactive Nitrogens), a newly suggested screening test indicator to detect groundwater contamination by FMD leachate, were assessed. For ecotoxicity tests, luminescent bacteria (V. fischeri), micro-algae (P. subcapitata) and water flea (D. magna) were selected as test species. Correlation analysis between the concentration of $Cl^-$, $NH{_4}{^+}-N$, NRN and the toxicity to V. fischeri was performed to identify the better indicators to monitor FMD leachate contamination. From regression analysis, the concentration of the indicators in FMD leachate contaminated sample that induced halfmaximal toxic effect to V. fischeri was evaluated. Results obtained from this study can be applied to assess the risk by FMD leachate and to establish the guideline to manage risk in relation to FMD leachate.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Biology Conference
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• 2004.12a
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• pp.127-131
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• 2004

The toxicity of 54 selected process effluents of 16 industry classifications in Korea was evaluated by bioassay test using fish Oryzias latipes, invertebrate Daphnia magna, algae Selenastrum capricornutum and bacteria Vibrio fischeri. Our results demonstrate that the toxicity assessment, such as bioassay test, is effective and of practical use for industrial wastewater management in 54 selected effluents with the limitation of the physico-chemical permit. Among 54 effluents, 4 sample failed physico-chemical permit limitation and 50 passed it. The physcio-chemical measurement items and permit concentrations on the present Water Quality Conservation Act are low related a ecotoxicity.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.123-133
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• 2023

Wastewater generated in the secondary battery production process contains lithium and high-concentration sulfate. Recently, as demand as demand for high-Ni precursors with high-energy density has surged, nickel emission is also a concern. Lithium and sulfate are not included in the current water pollutant discharge standard, so if they are not properly processed and discharged, the negative effect on future environment may be great. Therefore, in this study, the ecotoxicity of lithium, nickel, and sulfate, which are potential contaminants that can be discharged from the secondary battery production process, was evaluated using water flea (Daphnia magna) and luminescent bacteria (Aliivibrio fischeri). As a result of the ecotoxicity test, 24-hour and 48-hour D. magna EC₅₀ values of lithium were 18.2mg/L and 14.5mg/L, nickel EC50 values were 7.2mg/L and 5.4mg/L, and sulfate EC₅₀ values were 4,605.5mg/L and 4,345.0mg/L, respectively. In the case of D. magna, it was found that there was a difference in ecotoxicity according to the contaminants and exposure time (24 hours, 48 hours). Comparing the EC₅₀ of D. magna for lithium, nickel, and sulfate, the EC₅₀ of nickel at 24h and 48h was 39.6-37.2% compared to lithium and 0.1-0.2% compared to sulfate, which was the most toxic among the three substances. The difference appeared to be at a similarlevelregardless of the exposure time. The EC₅₀ of sulfate was 253.0-299.7% and 639.5-804.6%, respectively, compared to lithium and nickel, showing the least toxicity among the three substances. The 30-minute EC₅₀ values of luminescent bacteria forlithium, nickel, and sulfate were 2,755.8mg/L, 7.4mg/L, and 66,047.3mg/L,respectively. Unlike nickel, it was confirmed that there was a difference in sensitivity between D. magna and A. fischeri bacteria to lithium and sulfate. Studies on the mixture toxicity of these substances are needed.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.212-215
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• 2016

We developed a new ecotoxicological test method using native test species, eggs of Ephemera orientalis, and five kinds of industrial wastewater were tested to validate the test method. The water samples were collected in Jun 2006 from the following industries: pesticide, metal plating, PCB, leather1, and leather2. Wastewater and effluent were diluted by distilled water, respectively, to prepare various concentrations, 100, 50, 25, 12.5, 6.3, 3.1, and 0%. For the egg bioassay, 20 freshly laid eggs (<24 h old) were exposed to test solutions in a Petri dish ($52{\times}12mm$) at $20^{\circ}C$ with photoperiod of 16 h light and 8 h dark for 14 days. The median egg hatching concentrations (EHC50) were estimated using Probit analysis. All EHC50s of wastewater were less than 3.1%, which meant very high ecotoxicity except for the wastewater of PCB industry having 6.1% of EHC50. Among the effluents, the least toxic effluent was from pesticide industry having 58% of EHC50, while the effluent of leather2 was the most toxic having 7.3% of EHC50.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.528-532
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• 2012

This study investigated the possibility of phosphogypsum (PG) recycle as an embankment material by eco-toxicity experiments for S. capricornutum, T. suecica and D. magna. The eco-toxicity experiment was studied according to column leachates from PG mixing ratio, and a specific growth rate of S. capricornutum was usually higher than that of T. suecica. For D. magna, 0.3 of toxicity unit was obtained, which indicated the below of toxicity value of 1 at PG50 condition during a 48-hr test. A minor effect of column leachate samples on three organisms was observed. This study suggested that PG was satisfied with the criteria of waste recycle and could be reused at PG30 condition.

• Ocean Science Journal
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.91-100
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• 2005

Bioassay using the marine bacteria, Vibrio fischeri and rotifer, Brachionus plicatilis, and chemical analyses were conducted to assess the toxicity of the various sewage sludges, one of the major ocean dumped materials in the Yellow Sea of Korea. Sludge elutriates extracted by filtered seawater were used to estimate the ecotoxicity of the sludge. Chemical characterization included the analyses of organic contents, heavy metals, and persistent organic pollutants in sludge. Bacterial bioluminescent inhibition (15 min), rotifer mortality (24 hr) and rotifer population growth inhibition (48 hr) assay were conducted to estimate the sludge toxicity. EC50 15 min (inhibition concentration of bioluminescence after 15 minutes exposed) values by Microtox(R) bioassay clearly revealed different toxicity levels depending on the sludge sources. Highest toxicity for the bacteria was found with the sludge extract from dyeing waste and followed by industrial waste, livestock waste, and leather processing waste. Clear toxic effects on the bacteria were not found in the sludge extract from filtration bed sludge and rural sewage sludge. Consistent with Microtox(R) results, rotifer neonate mortality and population growth inhibition test also showed highest toxicity in dyeing waste and low in filtration bed and rural sewage sludge. High concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals were measured in the samples from the industrial wastes, leather processing plant waste sludge, and urban sewage sludge. However, there was no significant correlation between pollutant concentration levels and the toxicity values of the sludge. This suggests that the ecotoxicity in addition to the chemical analyses of various sludge samples must be estimated before release of potential harmful waste in the natural environment as part of an ecological risk assessment.