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Marine Test Centers for Static 
Immersion Testing and
Dynamic Testing
Marine Ecotoxicology Testing
Cost of Immersion Testing,
Settlement Assays and
Ecotoxicology
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Biological Testing Services
Overview
The performance of a variety of new coatings in the marine environment is best evaluated through continuous immersion in seawater over prolonged periods of time. Poseidon maintains floating platforms in the tropics to enable year-round performance tests on the efficacy of coatings against fouling organisms such as algae, oysters and barnacles.
The ban on toxic biocides in all marine paints by the year 2003 has created a need for companies to identify new
compounds that can be added to paints to prevent attachment of fouling organisms. Barnacles and oysters are
among the most tenacious marine fouling organisms. Poseidon maintains a continuous mass culture of barnacle
larvae that is routinely used for settlement assays to evaluate potential new compounds. Poseidon provides
testing services to companies engaged in a discovery program to identify active substances for the marine
coatings industry.
Technical Support
Teams of marine biologists, chemists, toxicologists and information technology personnel support all Poseidon field
stations. All tests are undertaken according to ASTM standards.
Confidentiality
Poseidon is a US-based corporation that maintains confidentiality agreements with over one hundred companies
worldwide. Contract testing is undertaken with special care to protect the proprietary information of our clients.
Marine Test Centers for Static Immersion Testing
and Dynamic Testing
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- Indian Exposure Platform. The city of Tuticorin is located on the southern tip of India in the Gulf of Mannar. The test platform is situated within a protected harbor in Tuticorin Bay and exposed to a wide range of fouling organisms normally found in the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. The predominant macrofouling species include barnacles (Balanus amphitrite), mussels/oysters (Crassostrea carvolhoi and Musculista arcuatula), ascidians, polychaetes, sea anemone, hydroids and sponges.
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- Philippine Exposure Platform. Hamtic Bay on Panay Island in the Philippines
was chosen as a secondary test site. The Hamtic Bay macrofouling environment is composed of barnacles (Balanus amphitrite communis), goose barnacles, clams, oysters and other bivalves not abundant in typical polluted harbors. Tests conducted at this site will enable performance testing of coatings against a wider variety of marine fouling not normally found in harbors.
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- Singapore Exposure Platform. The warm, tropical seas around Singapore are known to have a wide variety of fouling organisms that affect the surfaces of ships in the harbor. An exposure test center in Singapore enables the evaluation of the performance of marine paints in the world's second busiest international port.
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- Greece Exposure Platform. Located in the port of Piraeus in Athens, heavy fouling in this region closely represent the fouling conditions found throughout the Mediterranean.
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Static Immersion Testing
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Static immersion testing is conducted on flat
panels and PVC rods at Poseidon's test centers. Please click on the link below to see a slideshow on how
immersion testing is conducted on coated rods at Poseidon's facility at the Sacred Heart Marine Research Center in southeastern India.
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Launch Slideshow
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To view
a sample inspection report for immersion testing, please click
on the icon.
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Dynamic Testing
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The Poseidon Dynamic Test System
Simulation of the shear forces that coatings experience as the underwater surface of the ship goes through the sea at different speeds is an important testing methodology to verify the performance of a paint system.
This is typically undertaken using a dynamic testing device consisting of a drum that rotates at specific speeds underwater. A curved test panel with the experimental paint is fitted on the surface of the drum. The rotating drum will then simulate the stress on the coating after prolonged exposure underwater.
Marine engineers at Athena Bioventures, Inc., which has been
contracted by Poseidon to provide support services and research, recently designed novel dynamic test equipment which provides simulation of ship speeds using flat panels. This is known as the
Poseidon Dynamic Test System, which has already completed extensive verification and is ready for deployment in the various Poseidon field exposure facilities. The
Poseidon Dynamic Test System enables simulation of multiple ship speeds with a larger capacity of panels than the conventional dynamic test equipment.
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This dynamic test system has been presented to
the industry at the 2003 annual meetings of the Society for Protective
Coatings in New Orleans, and the Federation of Societies for Coatings
Technology in Philadelphia.
To view the paper of "Marine Biofouling Testing of Experimental Marine Paints:
Technical Considerations on Methods, Site Selection and Dynamic
Tests”,
please click
on the icon.
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Marine Eco-Toxicology Testing
A pronounced environmental movement is expanding worldwide and more focus is now directed at the toxic effects
of environmental pollutants in the marine environment. Prospective chemicals that go through the registration process
now need to be screened for their toxic effects on aquatic organisms.
Poseidon is not an accredited laboratory and its toxicology services provide preliminary screening of the experimental substances prior to conducting more expensive testing via accredited laboratories. The data generated from Poseidon's toxicology test system enables clients to have advance knowledge of the ecological impact of their compounds in a cost-effective manner.
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Cost of Immersion Testing,
Settlement Assays and Ecotoxicology
- Testing Services
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as of February 2007; all rates in US$)
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STATIC IMMERSION / PANEL TESTING SERVICES
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INDIA
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TEST |
Cost per panel
per month |
| Total
Immersion |
US$ 12.00 |
| Waterline Immersion |
US$ 16.00 |
- Inspection
Report
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US$ 12.00
per inspection / panel
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Initial set-up fee is
$ 5.00 per panel.
Coated test panels should be supplied to Poseidon in ready
form for immersion. Reports
include visual observations along with digital photographic
record(s) of the entire panel surface (two sides).
After completion of the tests, the client may request the
return of panels. The cost of packaging and transport from test
site to specified location is charged to the client.
The report for each
panel is supplied to the client via e-mail at a cost of $12.00 per
panel or rod. An
additional surcharge of $ 5.00 per panel is assessed for hard copy
reports, plus mailing cost. The
minimum test period is three (3) months.
The payment for the first 3 months of maintenance charges,
plus set-up cost, is charged to client at the start of the tests.
Thereafter, invoice is mailed to the client on a monthly
basis for subsequent maintenance and inspection charges.
Project sponsors may request
for selected panels to be returned after the completion of the
immersion testing. Such panels are taken out of the
platform. The flesh of the barnacle is carefully removed
from the shell without disturbing the attachment to the panels and
to prevent smell and deterioration. The panels are sun dried
and then packaged carefully for shipment. The cost for panel
preparation is $25.00 per panel and the appropriate shipping and
handling cost.
- B. POSEIDON DYNAMIC TESTING SYSTEM (PDTS)
- MARINE EXPOSURE
PROCEDURES AND COSTS ●
TUTICORIN
BAY, INDIA
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- Poseidon has developed
a new dynamic test system – the Poseidon Dynamic Testing
System (PDTS) -- that now makes it possible to simulate the
erosion rate of marine coatings in a moving vessel.
This new procedure enables simultaneous evaluation of
the erosion rate at various fluid shear forces using flat
panels. This
system was presented in 2003 to the Society of Protective
Coatings at its conference in New Orleans and at the
Federation of Societies of Coatings Technology’s annual
meeting in Philadelphia. For a PDF copy of this report,
please click on the icon.
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this procedure, flat metal panels
are placed on a horizontal
plane on
a rotating disc immersed in the open sea,
which causes erosion on the flat
panel at various ship speeds
of up
to 40 miles
per hour. The description of
our marine research exposure stations and the dynamic testing
system can be found in detail on the Poseidon website
www.poseidonsciences.com.
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The PDTS
machine uses a standard flat steel panel supplied by ACT Test
Panels, Inc. (Michigan) with the following specifications:
APRAPR12013
Cold rolled steel - 04x06x060
APR12137 Hot
rolled steel - 04x06x071
The panel can
be purchased with either of the two thickness at the standard size
of 4 inches by 6 inches (101.6 mm x 152.4 mm).
Contact Brad Kimpell at ACT Test Panels
(1-517-439-1485,
www.acttestpanels.com) or by email at
brad.kimpell@acttestpanels.com.
The test
panel may be coated on one or both sides
and submitted to Poseidon for installation in the machine.
As shown in the figure
(above), the position of
the panel in the
rotating disc will determine the relative velocities of the
seawater. We suggest that the client submit one (1) panel for each of
the three (3) positions to obtain the full range of velocities
possible. It is also
advisable to do the test in duplicate.
Combination
of Dynamic and Static Immersion Testing
- The PDTS machine offers the versatility of
removing the panels at any client-specified period of exposure
and subjecting the panel to static immersion.
This enables the evaluation of the performance of the
antifouling coating after a period of fluid shear stress and
erosion rate. Ideally,
multiple panels are subjected to the fluid shear stress of the
PDTS machine and certain panels may be removed after various
periods of time or at equivalent travel distance for static
immersion. Once removed from the PDTS machine, the maintenance
charges for the PDTS machine terminates and the standard cost
of static immersion at $12.00 per month
will apply.
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- Inspection
Schedule
- The test panels are inspected by removing the
panel at a specified period of time (example: after 1 month)
or upon reaching the equivalent distance (example:
10,000 miles). The
testing program will be subject to the specifications of the
client.
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- Testing
Period
- The minimum testing period is three (3) months.
Thereafter, the client may terminate the study or any
particular set of panels at any time by giving ten (10) days
advance notice.
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- Cost of Testing
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The charges for the testing services are as
follows:
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Set-up charge. This
is a one-time charge of US$10.00 per panel for mounting the
panels. It is billed during the first billing cycle.
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Maintenance charges.
The maintenance charge for each panel is $50.00
per panel per month.
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Inspection cost. The
inspection cost is $15.00 per panel.
The client receives digital photographs via electronic
mail of each panel (front and back side) within 10 days from
the inspection date. Measurement
of coating film thickness of metal panels is conducted at a
client-specified schedule at cost of $25.00 per panel.
Measurements consist of three (3) positions along the
midline of the panel on both sides. Since the fluid shear
forces experienced by the panel vary depending upon the
distance from the center shaft, the film thickness
measurements represent erosion rate at three (3) different
velocities for each panel.
Payment Schedule
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Initial payment is
requested at start of the project, which includes set-up
charge and maintenance charge for the first three (3) months.
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Invoice will be sent
to client for subsequent monthly charges, inspection cost and
film thickness determination.
C. BARNACLE SETTLEMENT ASSAYS
Cyprid Settlement Assay
- US$ 1,200.00 per compound (to determine
EC50) by
probit analysis
- 5 data points, triplicate
samples per concentration
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- Cyprid Settlement
Assay on Coated Dishes
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US$ 1,500.00 per compound
(The test compound is incorporated on VYHH Resin and
coated on the bottom of Falcon petri dish. Settlement assay is
conducted with the bioactive material impregnated in the coating (EC50
determined).
Marine Bacteria
Poseidon maintains
marine bacteria normally associated with barnacle fouling. For the
list of bacterial species available, please inquire.
- Marine toxicity test
- agar diffusion
US$ 125.00
Algal growth inhibition assay
- These assays are conducted using
Dunaliella tertiolecta
and Nitszchia sp.
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- Algal growth inhibition
US$ 1,500.00
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D.
ECOTOXICOLOGY
TESTING
Acute Testing
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Marine & Freshwater Organisms
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Poseidon is engaged in the biological testing of chemical substances
against a panel of various marine and freshwater larvae.
Examples of these organisms are as follows:
- Brachionus plicatilis (rotifer)
- Acartia tsuensis (copepod)
- Epinephelus coiodes (grouper fish fry)
- Chanos chanos (milkfish fry)
- Penaeus monodon (prawn fry)
- Penaeus fabricatus (shrimp fry)
- Tilapia nilotica (tilapia fry)
- Balanus amphitrite (barnacle larvae)
- Artemia salinas (brine shrimp)
- Neomysis integer (mysids)
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- 1. Single
concentration
US$ 200.00
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2. Determination of LD50
US$ 800.00
- 3. Prolonged toxicity 14-day test
US$ 2,600.00
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