• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.369-375
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• 2012

Loess-sulfur complex has been widely used as an environmental friendly organic materials for insecticides and fungicides in crop cultivation. However, there are high concerns about skin and eye irritation for farm workers due to the high alkaline properties of loess-sulfur complex. The acute toxicity evaluation was conducted with three samples of loess-sulfur complex in different pH (pH 9, 10, 11) in order to supply the evidentiary data for selecting the optimal product among the test materials. The results of acute oral toxicity using rats showed $LD_{50}$ of over 2,000 mg/kg b.w. for all three samples of loess-sulfur complex. The calculated acute dermal $LD_{50}$ of all tested materials was over 4,000 mg/kg b.w.. The Skin and eye irritation indicated that all tested materials have no irritation. Consequently, it was suggested that loess-sulfur complex be low in acute toxicity at all different pH values (pH 9~11).