Development of water quality criteria for arsenic to protect aquatic life based on species sensitivity distribution.

Arsenic is a hazardous environmental pollutant widely distributed globally. Arsenic toxicity is well known and it is regulated by many countries in terms of managing water quality and protecting aquatic organisms. Unfortunately, water quality criterion (WQC) to protect aquatic organisms has not been introduced in Korea yet. Thus, it is of great importance and necessity to introduce WQC to protect aquatic organisms from arsenic, as WQC play a significant role in protecting aquatic ecosystems from pollutants. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to derive arsenic water quality criterion for aquatic life in Korea. Arsenic acute toxicity tests were performed with 10 Korean native aquatic species, which belong to 7 different taxonomic groups. Based on the results of acute toxicity test and additional toxicity data from literature, the species sensitivity distribution (SSD) method was used in ecological risk assessment. The arsenic concentration of 95% protection level for aquatic life was 0.229 mg L-1 in this study. An assessment factor 3 and a background concentration 0.0004 mg L-1 were applied to the concentration value in consideration of the uncertainty of the data and the amount of arsenic natural generation. Consequently, the WQC value derived for arsenic was found to be 0.077 mg L-1. These results will serve as reference values to establish water quality criterion for the protection of aquatic life in Korea.

Development of water quality criteria of ammonia for protecting aquatic life in freshwater using species sensitivity distribution method.

Ammonia is deemed one of the most important pollutants in the freshwater environment because of its highly toxic nature and ubiquity in surface water. This study thus aims to derive the criteria for ammonia in freshwater to protect aquatic life because there are no water quality criteria for ammonia in Korea. Short-term lethal tests were conducted to perform the species sensitivity distribution (SSD) method. This method is widely used in ecological risk assessment to determine the chemical concentrations to protect aquatic species. Based on the species sensitivity distribution method using Korean indigenous aquatic biota, the hazardous concentration for 5% of biological species (HC5) value calculated in this study was 44mg/L as total ammonia nitrogen (TAN). The value of the assessment factor was set at 2. Consequently, the criteria for ammonia were derived as 22mg/L at pH7 and 20°C. When the derived value was applied to the monitoring data nationwide, 0.51%, 0.09%, 0.18%, 0.20%, and 0.35% of the monitoring sites in Han River, Nakdong River, Geum River, Youngsan River, and lakes throughout the nation, respectively, exceeded this criteria. The Ministry of Environment in Korea has been considering introducing water quality standard of ammonia for protecting aquatic life. Therefore, our results can provide the basis for introducing the ammonia standard in Korea.

Syntheses and reactivities of stable halosilylenoids, (Tsi)X2SiLi (Tsi=C(SiMe3)3, X=Br, Cl).

Halosilylenoids, stable at room temperature (Tsi)X(2)SiLi (Tsi=C(SiMe(3))(3), X=Br, Cl), were synthesized from the reaction of TsiSiX(3) with lithium naphthalenide. Bromosilylenoid reacted with tBuOH and MeI both at -78 degrees C and at room temperature to give (Tsi)HSiBr(2) and (Tsi)MeSiBr(2), respectively, in high yields; this clearly shows its nucleophilicity. In the reaction of bromosilylenoid with methanol, 2-propanol, and 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene, the corresponding products, (Tsi)HSi(OMe)(2), (Tsi)HSi(OiPr)Br, and bromo(Tsi)silacyclopent-3-ene, were obtained in high yields; this demonstrates its amphiphilic property, as if bromosilylene would be trapped. Chlorosilylenoid also exhibited both nucleophilic and amphiphilic properties. The (29)Si chemical shifts for (Tsi)Br(2)SiLi, (Tsi)Br(2)SiK, and (Tsi)Cl(2)SiLi were 106, 70, and 87 ppm, respectively.