the acute ecotoxicity of a set of mixture samples (washing powders, wastes, fuel extracts etc.) was assessed using four acute ecotoxicity assays with aquatic organisms (daphnia magna, poecilia reticulata, artemia salina and desmodesmus subspicatus). the experimental concentration-response curves were fitted by seven two-parameter sigmoid equations using non-linear regression. the regression per...

the acute ecotoxicity of a set of mixture samples (washing powders, wastes, fuel extracts etc.) was assessed using four acute ecotoxicity assays with aquatic organisms (daphnia magna, poecilia reticulata, artemia salina and desmodesmus subspicatus). the experimental concentration-response curves were fitted by seven two-parameter sigmoid equations using non-linear regression. the regression pe...

Artemia is one of the most important test organisms available for ecotoxicity test. In this study the toxicity of five widely used herbicides formulations including: Paraquat, 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D), Trifluralin, Glyphosite and Atrazin were compared using ecotoxicity bioindicator, Artemia franciscana. Acute toxicity (48 h LC50) of five herbicides were determined via OECD standa...

The in vitro study of antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles (NPs), prepared via modified Tollens process, revealed high antibacterial activity even at very low concentrations around several units of mg/L. These concentrations are comparable with concentrations of ionic silver revealing same antibacterial effect. However, such low concentrations of silver NPs did not show acute cytotoxi...

Eisenia fetida was used as a model terrestrial organism to assess the potential ecotoxicity of molecular pristine C60 in soil. Reproduction (assessed by counting cocoon numbers) was hindered only at very high C60 concentrations (5% by weight), and C60 (up to 1%) was not avoided and did not hinder earthworm growth. This suggests that E. fetida is unlikely to experience acute toxicity as a result...

Acute and chronic ecotoxicity tests with zinc were performed with the earthworm Eisenia fetida, the potworm Enchytraeus albidus, and the springtail Folsomia candida. To assess the influence of the soil type on zinc toxicity for these soil invertebrates, these tests were carried out in a standard artificial soil, a sandy and a loamy field soil. Based on the results of this experimental work and ...

The aquatic ecotoxic profile of the fungicide pyrimethanil and its acute and chronic thermal dependence in two aquatic invertebrates Chironomus riparius and Daphnia magna were investigated. The ecotoxicity of pyrimethanil at optimal thermal conditions did not depend on the trophic level, but was species-specific. The acute pyrimethanil-toxicity on C. riparius increased with higher temperature. ...

In order to reduce the ecotoxicity of paper mill, four different enzymatic pretreatment strategies were investigated in comparison to conventional chemical based processes. In strategy I, xylanase-aided pretreatment of pulp was carried out, and in strategy II, xylanase and laccase-mediator systems were used sequentially. Moreover, to compare the efficiency of Bacillus stearothermophilus xylanas...

The assessment of the adverse effects of chemicals and other stressors on the environment is a difficult task because of the complex network of species and physicochemical factors interrelated in a given ecosystem. Since it is almost impossible to perform tests in complete ecosystems, ecotoxicity testing has to rely on simplified testing systems, but should still be as representative for the wh...

We tried to quantify the ecotoxicity of three industrial soil samples contaminated by different metals, using the Collembolan Folsomia candida as a biological model and mortality, growth and reproduction as parameters. The observed ecotoxicities are rather normal for the first such soil sample (aluminum factory) but are high for the second sample (ore treatment) and relatively low for the third...