A Method for Evaluating the Efficacy of Antifouling Paints Using Mytilus galloprovincialis in the Laboratory in a Flow-Through System

PLoS One. 2016 Dec 13;11(12):e0168172. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0168172. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

A laboratory test with a flow-through system was designed and its applicability for testing antifouling paints of varying efficacies was investigated. Six different formulations of antifouling paints were prepared to have increasing contents (0 to 40 wt.%) of Cu2O, which is the most commonly used antifouling substance, and each formulation of paint was coated on just one surface of every test plate. The test plates were aged for 45 days by rotating them at a speed of 10 knots inside a cylinder drum. A behavioral test was then conducted using five mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) that were pasted onto the coated surface of each aged test plate. The number of the byssus threads produced by each mussel generally decreased with increasing Cu2O content of the paint. The newly designed method was considered valid owing to the high consistency of its results with observations from the field experiment.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biofouling / prevention & control*
  • Biological Assay
  • Copper / chemistry*
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Materials Testing
  • Models, Statistical
  • Mytilus*
  • Paint / analysis*
  • Polyvinyl Chloride / chemistry
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Seawater

Substances

  • Copper
  • Polyvinyl Chloride
  • cupric oxide

Grants and funding

Japan NUS Co., Ltd. provided support in the form of salaries for authors [SK and IK], and Chugoku Marine Paints, Ltd. provided support in the form of salaries for author [YS], but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Support was also provided by the Nippon Foundation, Project ID: 20011965347, Continued project ID: 2000070441C99.