• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.187-194
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• 2013

Microalgae are sensitive indicators of environmental changes, and hence they are widely used in environmental risk assessments and for the development of discharge guidelines. Here we evaluated the toxicity of metals and endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) to the marine green microalga, Tetraselmis suecica. The toxicants investigated included the metals, Cu, Ni, and Pb; and the EDCs, bisphenol A (BPA), endosulfan (ES), and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB). The endpoints were variations in cell counts and chlorophyll a levels. T. suecica displayed a varied pattern of sensitivity to the toxicants. Based on the 72-h median effective concentration ($EC_{50}$), ES (0.045 mg/L) was most toxic to T. suecica, followed by PCB (3.96 mg/L) and Pb (9.62 mg/L). Interestingly, T. suecica was relatively tolerant to Cu (43.03 mg/L). The 72-h $EC_{50}$ values of Ni and BPA were approximately 16 mg/L. Our data suggest that this species may be relatively tolerant to most of the chemicals within their permissible limits in the environment.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.294-299
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• 2000

In order to find out the effects of shading and nitrogen fertilization on the accumulation of $NO_3\;^-$ in leaves of lettuce, lettuce plants were cultivated in the pots under glasshouse condition with different rates of shading(0, 50%) and nitrogen fertilization(100, 180, 200, 300, $400\;kg{\cdot}ha^{-1}$). The pH value was lower in soil after experiment than before experiment, whereas, contents of EC and $NO_3-N$ were higher. As the amounts of nitrogen fertilization were increased, pHs were decreased, but EC and the contents of $NO_3-N$ were increased. At the nitrogen fertilizations of 100, 180, 200, 300 and $400\;kg{\cdot}ha^{-1}$, the germination rates of lettuce were decreased to 84, 78, 76, 72 and 74%, and survival rates were also decreased to 94, 94, 90, 60 and 46%, respectively. However, the fresh weight of lettuce was highest at $45\;g{\cdot}plant^{-1}$ in the recommended fertilizer $plot(180\;kg{\cdot}ha^{-1})$ with non-shading condition. The contents of $NO_3\;^-$ in the leaves of lettuce were increased 2.8-4.1 times under 50% shading conditions than that under non-shading condition. It kept increasing up to seven order of growth phase; however, it started to decrease after eight order phase. Nitrate reductase activity of lettuce in non-shading condition was higher than that in 50% shading condition.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.557-565
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• 2017

For our survey of insecticidal resistance of Palm thrips (Thrips palmi Karny), we established the discriminating time (DT) and concentration (DC) of nine insecticides, and we conducted a bioassay about seven local populations via leaf-dipping methods. The discriminating times of the recommended concentration (RC) were 24 h at emamectin benzoate EC and spinetoram SC, 48 h at chlorfenapyr EC, 72 h at spinosad SC, cyantraniliprole EC, acetamiprid WP, dinotefuran WG, imidacloprid WP and thiacloprid SC after treatment. The DC estimated the concentration which showed the difference within the mortalities of these local populations. The DCs were emamectin benzoate EC $0.013mg\;L^{-1}$ (RC, $10.8mg\;L^{-1}$), spinetoram SC $0.125mg\;L^{-1}$ (RC, $25.0mg\;L^{-1}$), chlorfenapyr EC $0.25mg\;L^{-1}$ (RC, $50.0mg\;L^{-1}$), spinosad SC $0.083mg\;L^{-1}$ (RC, $50.0mg\;L^{-1}$) and cyantraniliprole EC $5.0mg\;L^{-1}$ (RC, $50.0mg\;L^{-1}$), and DCs of neonicotinoids were their RCs, that is, acetamiprid WP (RC, $40.0mg\;L^{-1}$), dinotefuran WG (RC, $20.0mg\;L^{-1}$), imidacloprid WP(RC, $50.0mg\;L^{-1}$) and thiacloprid SC (RC, $50.0mg\;L^{-1}$). From our investigation into the resistance of the local populations with DT and DC application, the neonicotinoid insecticides have shown a high resistant level for all the local populations, and the other insecticides have demonstrated low or non-resistance. In the use of neonicotinoid insecticides to control Palm thrips, one must take caution. As a result, the establishment of DT and DC in the single dose bioassay method was helpful for surveying the insecticide response dynamics and the development of an insecticide resistance management strategy.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.655-661
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• 2015

This study intends to evaluate the effect of nitric acid($HNO_3$) spill accidents on the marine ecosystem, while $HNO_3$ is known as one of the typical HNS. For this purpose, we performed (1) the growth inhibition test by using phytoplankton(Skeletonema costatum), (2) acute and chronic toxicity test by using invertebrate(Brachionus plicatilis and Monocorphium acherusicum), (3) fish(Cyprinodon variegatus) and (4) bacteria(Vibrio fischeri). In these tests, we observed the (1) pH changes induced by the nitric acid spill and (2) changes in nitrate($NO_3$) concentration disassociated from nitric acid after the accident, respectively. The toxicity test result on pH changes induced by $HNO_3$ shows that the no observed effect concentration(NOEC), lowest observed effect concentration(LOEC) and 50 % effect concentration($72h-EC_{50}$) values of M. acherusicum are pH 7 (0.3 mM), pH 5(1.1 mM) and pH 5.2(1.4 mM), respectively, indicating that M. acherusicum is the most sensitive species. The chronic toxicity test (population growth rate test) on $NO_3{^-}$ of B. plicatilis show that the NOEC, LOEC and $96h-EC_{50}$ are 5.9 mM, 11.8 mM and 32.6 mM, respectively, indicating that B. plicatilis is the most sensitive species. In conclusion, toxic effecst on the marine organism caused by the nitric acid spill accident is determined to be so slightly except for the most adjacent area of the ship in pH scale and such concentration of nitrate, to the extent of directly influencing the survival and reproduction of the marine organism, is determined practically not to be applicable in the typical accidents in the sea.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.65-72
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• 2006

Objective of this research was to remove the accumulated salts in the plastic film house soils by installing the perforated PVC (${\phi}10cm$) underdrainage pipes at 50 cm depth of soils with cultivating vegetables. Efficiency of the underdrainage pipes was assessed based on the changes of soil chemical properties such as pH, EC, and cations, and growth and yield parameters of the vegetables between the two treatments; the control and the underdrainage pipe treatments. The EC of the underdrainage pipes installed soils after two growing seasons were in the ranges of $1.42-2.88dS\;m^{-1}$ but those of the control were in the ranges of $3.86-4.53dS\;m^{-1}$, indication the underdrainage pipes effectively removed the accumulated salts in soils. The pHs of the control soils and the underdrainage pipe installed soil were in the ranges of 7.2-7.5 and 6.9-7.3, respectively. There was a significant correlation between pH and cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the soils ($CEC=17.107{\times}pH-106.2$, $r^2=0.759$, P < 0.05). The ECs of the soils at different depths were compared between the two treatments after cultivating vegetables with lettuce-lettuce-garland chrysanthemum rotation systems. The ECs of the control soils at depths of 0-10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, and 40-50 cm were 3.45, 3.47, 3.03, 2.03, and $2.28dS\;m^{-1}$, respectively, with decreasing with soil depths. On the other hand, the respective ECs of the underdrainage pipes installed soils were 2.43, 2.52, 2.28, 4.00, and $4.23dS\;m^{-1}$ with increasing with soil depths. This might be derived from the salts moved downward with the draining water into the subsoil. The order of cations moved downward was Mg > Ca > K, based on the ratios of cations at specific depth over those at the surface soil. The survival rates of lettuce after 15 days of transplanting in the underdrainage pipe installed soils were 98.2% as compared to 86.6% of the control. The underdrainage pipe treatment also increased the diameter of the lettuce stalk from 12.9mm of the control to 13.7mm. Overall results demonstrated that the installment of the underdrainage pipes in the subsoils of the salt accumulated plastic film house soil effectively removed the salts by leaching downward,resulting in lowering soil EC and enhancing the growth and yield of vegetables.

• ALGAE
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.63-70
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• 2012

Algae are sensitive to a wide range of pollutants, and are effective bioindicators in ecotoxicity assessments. Here, we evaluated the sub-lethal sensitivity of the marine dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides upon exposure to copper (Cu), lead (Pb), bisphenol A (BPA), and Aroclor 1016 (polychlorinated biphenyl, PCB). Toxic effects were assessed by observations of the reduction in cell counts and chlorophyll a levels after exposure to each toxicant. C. polykrikoides displayed dose-dependent, sigmoidal responses when exposed to the tested chemicals. $EC_{50}$-72 h values for Cu, Pb, BPA, and PCB were 12.74, 46.70, 68.15, and $1.07mg\;L^{-1}$, respectively. PCB, which is an endocrine-disrupting chemical, was the most sensitive, proving its toxic effect on the dinoflagellate. This study provides baseline data on the toxic effects of commonly used heavy metals and endocrine-disrupting chemicals to a marine dinoflagellate.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.306-312
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• 2016

Microalgae are the potential bioindicators of environmental changes, for the environmental risk assessment as well as to set limits for toxic chemical release in the aquatic environment. Here, we evaluated the effects of two endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), namely bisphenol A (BPA) and Aroclor 1016, on the green algae Tetraselmis suecica, diatom Ditylum brightwellii, and dinoflagellate Prorocentrum minimum. Each species showed wide different sensitivity ranges when exposed to these two EDCs; the 72 h effective concentration ($EC_{50}$) for these test species showed that Aroclor 1016 was more toxic than BPA. $EC_{50}$ values for the diatom D. birghtwellii were calculated at 0.037 mg/L for BPA and 0.002 mg/L for Aroclor 1016, representing it was the most sensitive when compared to the other species. In addition, these results suggest that these EDC discharge beyond these concentrations into the aquatic environments may cause harmful effect to these marine species.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.573-580
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• 2017

The oxicity assesment of Phenanthrene (PHE) has been investigated by using the rate (r) of survival and population growth in rotifer Brachionus plicatilis. The survival rate was determined after 24 h of exposure to PHE. The survival rate of PHE had no effect at a maximum of $300mg\;L^{-1}$. The r was determined after 72 h of exposure to PHE. It was observed that r in the controls (absence PHE) was greater than 0.5, but that it suddenly decreased with an increased concentration of PHE. PHE reduced r in a dose-dependent manner and a significant reduction occurred at a concentration of greater than $37.5mg\;L^{-1}$. The $EC_{50}$ value of r in PHE exposure was $63.7mg\;L^{-1}$. The no-observed-effect-concentration (NOEC) of r in PHE exposure was $18.8mg\;L^{-1}$. The lowest-observed-effect-concentration (LOEC) of r in the PHE exposure was $37.5mg\;L^{-1}$. From the results, the concentration of PHE (greater than $37.5mg\;L^{-1}$) has a toxic effect on the r of B. plicatilis in natural ecosystems. These results(including NOEC, LOEC and $EC_{50}$) might be useful for the Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) toxicity assessment in marine ecosystems.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.35-42
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• 2017

This research was conducted to investigate the influence of post-planting fertilizer concentrations on the growth of seedlings and changes of nutrient concentrations of media in tomato seedling production through sub-irrigation. Two root media such as peat moss (grade of 0 to 6 mm, PM06) plus perlite (grade of 1 to 2 mm (PE2)(7:3, v/v) and peat moss (grade of 5 to 15 mm, PM515) plus PE2 (7:3, v/v) were formulated and filled into 72-cell plug trays. After seeds of 'Dotaerang Dia' tomato were sown and germinated at $28^{\circ}C$, the trays were moved to greenhouse and seedlings were raised 35 days. When the cotyledons were emerged, post-planting fertilizers of 13-2-13, 15-0-15 and 20-9-20 ($N-P_2O_5-K_2O$) were applied in a sequence. The fertilizer concentrations based on N in each plug stage were differed with $25mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ in three treatments. The fertilizer solutions were supplied when the weight of plug trays decreased to 40 to 50% compared to container capacity. The root media were collected in 1, 2, 4, and 5 weeks after sowing and were divided into top, middle, and bottom parts, then were analysed for pH, EC and macro-nutrient concentrations. The seedling growth was investigated 5 weeks after sowing. The pH and EC in PM06+PE2 was higher than those of PM515+PE2. The bottom and mid-part had higher pH and lower EC compared to upper part in each medium. The differences of EC between upper and bottom parts were around 2 times in each medium. The $NH_4-N$ and K concentrations in program 3 of PM06+PE2 showed the highest concentrations among all treatments. The $NO_3-N$ concentrations in PM06+PE2 increased gradually and this rising tendency become severe as post-planting fertilizer concentrations were elevated. The seedling growth in terms of fresh and dry weights was the highest in the treatment of program 2 in PM06+PE2 among all treatments tested. Above results indicate that the gradual increases of fertilizer concentrations from 25 to $125mg{\cdot}L^{-1}$ in plug stages 2, 3, and 4 plug stages are desirable for