COPPER SULFATE PENTAHYDRATE

AS A POTENTIAL ANTI FOULING AGENT

A Capsule Proposal Study

Presented to the Faculty of the
Commission on Higher Education and
the University of the Cordilleras, Baguio City

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

General Education Course
of Science, Technology and Society

By
Cristine Marie A. Perdido

Shelaniejean L. Lim

Mary Jane M. Candoy

Felix M. Calubaquib

Reynaldo S. Mejia

December 2, 2017
 CAPSULE PROPOSAL
A. BASIC INFORMATION
1. Project Title COPPER SULFATE PENTAHYDRATE AS A POTENTIAL
ANTI FOULING AGENT
Project Type Marine Education/Marine Technology
2. Proponent (s) Cristine Marie A. Perdido
Designation Researcher
Agency/Institution Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific
Address 371 Looc St. Cabcaben, Mariveles, Bataan
Tel./Fax No. (047) 237 3355
Email cristinealayon0131@yahoo.com
Proposed
Responsibility Researcher

Proponent Felix M. Calubaquib

Designation Researcher
Agency/Institution University of Cagayan Valley
Address Balzain hi-way, Tuguegarao City, Cagayan
Tel./Fax No.
Email felix.madrigo@gmail.com
Proposed
Responsibility Researcher

Proponent Reynaldo S. Mejia

Designation Researcher
Agency/Institution Kings College of the Philippines
Address Pico Rd., La Trinidad, Benguet
Tel./Fax No. 09108823176
Email reynaldsmejia@yahoo.com
Proposed
Responsibility Researcher

Proponent Mary Jane M. Candoy

Designation Researcher
Agency/Institution Data Center College of the Philippines-Baguio City
Address Corner Sumulong St., Upper Bonifacio, Baguio City
Tel./Fax No.
Email Mjmc193@gmail.com
Proposed
Responsibility Researcher

Proponent Shelaniejean L. Lim

Designation Researcher
Agency/Institution Divine Word College of Benguet
Address Rizal St., Zone 6, Bangued, Abra
Tel./Fax No. (074) 752 8003
Email
Proposed Researcher
Responsibility

Project Leader
Authorized
Representative Head
of Agency
3. Implementing
Agency
Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific
Lead Agency University of Cordilleras
Collaborating Agency
(s)
4. Project Location Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific

Region III
Province Bataan
Municipality Mariveles
5. Project Duration

Start-up Date November 2016

Completion Date November 2017
6. Total Budget 15000
Requirement
(In Philippine Peso)
Budget Requested
Agency Counterpart
Other Sources
Marine biofouling is the unwanted growth of marine organisms on ship
7. Summary
structures and shore facilities regularly exposed to seawater. This

affects the ships maneuverability and reduces its speed which results in

increased fuel consumption and drag. This causes ship-owners

additional costs for fuel and more of maintenance. On stationary

structures such as buoys, floaters, piers and jetties, biofouling enhances

corrosion leading to risks of operational and mechanical failure. Marine

organisms trapped in ballast tanks (compartments on ships that holds

 seawater for the purpose of its stability) are the leading cause of species

invasion in some countries. Introduction of organisms in areas without a

developing predator will able that organism to thrive and sooner invade

the area. This entails governments of the countries with alien invasive

species (AIS) a lot of trouble and of course, a lot of money just to

eliminate them. With this, anti-fouling procedures is required to use by

ships. These procedures involves coating, painting or the like on the

surfaces of the ships structures. This study will concentrate on the

potentiality of copper sulfate pentahydrate as an anti fouling agent.

Copper sulfate pentahydrate was candidate as alternative to its

counterparts for its related purpose in organic farming as fungicide,

pesticide and algaecide, aside from the fact that it is also inexpensive

and easily available. The chemical will be tested to a certain species of

a barnacle larvae, which is the most common organism that thrives in

the ships hull and to brine shrimps that is easily is affected by toxicity,

thus, an indicator of toxicity level. This study will use increasing

amounts of copper sulfate pentahydrate and the specimens will be

observed within the next 48 hours upon application or treatment. The

study aims to note the level of toxicity of copper sulfate pentahydrate

that may cause it to be an effective fouling agent. Furthermore, it the

effectiveness of the substance as anti-fouling agent will be analyzed by

the mortality rate of barnacle larvae and brine shrimps.

Prepared by: Endorsed by:

Cristine Marie A. Perdido

 Shelaniejean L. Lim Eduardo Ma R Santos, AFP Ret.
Mary Jane M. Candoy MAAP President

Felix M. Calubaquib Date: ______________________________

Reynaldo S. Mejia
Proponents

Date: Dec. 1, 2017

B. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
RATIONAL AND BACKGROUND
Background of the Study
Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate is an inorganic compound with the combination of

sulfur with copper. It can eliminate organisms like bacteria, algae, snails, fungi, moss,

etc. The toxicity depends on the amount of copper in it. Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate

comes in forms like dust, crystals, and liquids and usually used in organic agriculture.

Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate is a common household material is the United States since

it is used to treat algae formation in their swimming pools. Copper Sulfate

Pentahydrate is viewed as another source of antifouling substance due to its availability

in the market and is affordable for the public to use(Dikshith, 2007).

Marine biofouling is the unwanted growth of marine organisms on ship

structures and shore facilities regularly exposed to seawater, such as the hull, ballast

tanks, jetty pilings, seawater intake pipes, net cages for aquaculture and other

navigational instruments. Biofouling has its negative effects on ships. It somehow

affects the ships maneuverability and reduces its speed which results in increased fuel

consumption and additional maintenance costs. On stationary structures such as buoys,

floaters, piers and jetties, biofouling enhances corrosion leading to risks of operational

and mechanical failure. Marine organisms trapped in ballast tanks are the leading cause

of species invasion in some countries(Callow, 2002). One example of a biofouling

organism is the barnacle. According to Vetere(2007), Barnacles are one of the most

unwanted types by the ship owners and other people involved in the marine industry. It

is an arthropod which means that it has an egg stage, larvae stage, and adult stage.

There are many types of barnacles, but the Amphitrite and the Cyprids species are the

ones that the marine industry considers as pests.

To minimize the cost of the maintenance caused by marine biofouling and to

improve the performance of the vessel, anti-fouling procedures were used to eliminate

the effects of marine biofouling. Antifouling is the process of eliminating unwanted

organisms in specific structures such as underwater parts of ships, shore platforms, and

facilities, etc. Anti-fouling systems in ships are the coating, paint, surface treatment,

devices that are used on a ship to eradicate the attachment of marine organisms to ship

structures that bring negative effects(Schinas, 2009).

Since Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate has a lot of properties related to antifouling

like being an algaecide, molluscicide, fungicide, and pesticide, there is a need,

therefore, to test this chemical to find out its antifouling properties. Unlike other

antifouling agents like Irgarol, TBT, Sea-nine, etc., Copper sulfate pentahydrate is

cheap and can easily be bought at any hardware stores. It can be therefore easily

accessed by people who wants to make a self-improvised antifouling paint to save

money from buying marketed antifouling paints which are very costly. And another

advantage of this chemical is that it has a cuprous property which is commonly used

for anti-rusting in metals.

For us to determine the toxicity level of Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate, we will perform

a Brine Shrimp Test (BST) to determine the Lethal Dose 50 (LD50) of the said

chemical. The pliability of brine shrimps brands them the idyllic animals for

conducting biological toxicity assays and is now one of the typical organisms for

testing the toxicity of chemicals(Duerr, 2009). And Lethal Dose 50 will determine the

minimum concentration or amount of the chemical for it to be considered

lethal(Kwanga, 2012).

This study will determine the effectiveness of Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate as a

potential source of new antifouling agent.

OBJECTIVES: General and Specific

General Objective:

To determine the effectiveness of Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate as an antifouling agent.

Specific Objectives:

a.) To find out the mortality rate of the barnacle larva treated with different

concentrations of Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate toxicological bioassay

b.) To find out the mortality rate of the brine shrimps treated with different

concentrations of Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate toxicological bioassay

 c.) To determine if there is a significant difference between the mortality rate of

the barnacle larva treated with different concentrations of Copper Sulfate

Pentahydrate.

d.) To determine if there is a significant difference between the mortality rate of

the brine shrimps treated with different concentrations of Copper Sulfate

Pentahydrate.

e.) To determine the minimum effective concentration used to kill 50% of the test

subjects.

EXPECTED OUTPUT
1. The different concentrations of Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate show different

mean mortality rates. There are also differences between the mortality rates of

barnacle larvae and brine shrimp at equal concentrations. For the barnacle larvae,

starting from 600ppm and above concentration of Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate,

all the test subjects were already eliminated. For the brine shrimp, 100%

mortality rate is achieved only from 800ppm concentration and above.

2. There is a significant differencein the mortality rate of the barnacle larva treated

with different concentrations of Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate

3. There is a significant difference in the mortality rate of the brine shrimps treated

with different concentrations of Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate.

4. For the barnacle larvae, the minimum effective concentration is 104.777ppm. For

the brine shrimp, the minimum effective concentration is 125.197ppm.

POTENTIAL IMPACT
This study may open opportunities that may change the worldwide maritime industry.

This study may open potentiality of copper sulfate pentahydrate to be used as a

antifouling agent that may drastically decrease maintenance cost and as a consequence

may increase efficiency of ships and voyages.

USERS/BENEFICIARIES

The following are users and beneficiaries of the study:

Seafarers. The results of this study may benefit seafarers in providing a new

alternative way of antifouling for them to reduce or eliminate the fouling organisms

that stick in their ships hull or invasive alien species thriving in the ballast tanks. If the

pests are eliminated, the ships performance will improve.

Ship-owners. The products of this study will assist to lessen the cost of the ship-

owners due to the increased fuel consumption, hull cleaning, paint removal and

repainting, and associated environmental compliance measures caused by biofouling.

Local Fishermen or boat owners. The results of the study may benefit the local

fishermen or boat owners to have an alternative antifouling agent to use on their boats

or fishing vessels if they have no budget to buy marketed paints.

SEAFDEC (Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center). Since there is still no

toxicity test of conducted on Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate on a bioassay, this may help
them determine the amount of copper sulfate pentahydrate that can have a negative

effect on the environment.

Paint companies. After further research studies, they may use the idea of this

antifouling agent to create a cost-effective paint that may be used to prevent fouling

and at the same time rusting on ships and other facilities found near shore.

Future Researchers. This may serve as the basis for their future investigations

especially to problems related to future researchers focused on determining variables,

time constraints, and chronic toxicity.

METHODOLOGY (Short Description)

The researchers will prepare 21 plastic containers with 20 randomly-picked brine

shrimps as well as another 21 plastic containers with 20 randomly-picked barnacle larva

and will be tested for Treatments A, B, C, D, E, F and G each with 3 replicates. Each

treatment will be a mixture of copper sulfate to water in increasing amounts of copper

sulfate powder. The concentration of the treatment will be based on increasing parts per

million (ppm). Treatments A,B,C,D,E,F and G will be applied to the samples that will

be randomly arranged using Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The amount of

Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate applied to the samples used are according to the

Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The brine shrimps and barnacle larvae will be

monitored for 48 hours. The effectiveness of Copper Sulfate Pentahydrate as an potential

antifouling agent will be determined by the mortality rate of brine shrimps and barnacle

larvae after 48 hours of exposure to the different treatments.

GANTT CHART
Activities Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July
Gathering
data/preparation
Actual
experiment/observation
Analyzing results

TOTAL BUDGET REQUIREMENT

Items Amount
Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses 10 000
(MOOE)
Capital Outlay (CO) 5000
Administrative Cost none
Total 15000

STRATEGY OR EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

Completely Randomized Design (CRD) is the research design the researcher will

utilize wherein the treatments were assigned completely at random so that each

experimental unit have the same share of receiving all treatments. The sample size for

the research will be 20 testing organisms per treatment. Each treatment will also have

three replicates each to have accurate measurements or to eliminate the residual (pure)

error. This study was done with different treatments using different concentrations of

Copper sulfate pentahydrate and was tested and evaluated using Probit Analysis to

determine the level of toxicity. Probit Analysis is a specialized regression model of

binomial response variables. This is used to analyze many kinds of dose-response or

binomial response experiments in a variety of fields. The idea of probit analysis was

originally published in Science by Chester Ittner Bliss in 1934. He worked as an

entomologist for the Connecticut agricultural experiment station and was primarily

concerned with finding an effective pesticide to control insects that fed on grape leaves

(Greenberg 1980).

Probit analysis acts as a transformation from sigmoid to linear and then runs a

regression on the relationship. Once a regression is run, the researcher can use the

output of the probit analysis to compare the amount of chemical required to create the

same response in each of the various chemicals. There are many endpoints used to

compare the differing toxicities of chemicals, but the LC50 (liquids) or LD50 (solids)

are the most widely used outcomes of the modern dose-response experiments. The

LC50/LD50 represent the concentration (LC50) or dose (LD50) at which 50% of the

population responds.

MODE OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

The results of the paper should be lectured and be submitted to different maritime

conventions for dissemination of the results and information that may be gathered from

this study.

ATTACHMENTS:
A. BRIEF PROFILE OF PROPONENT/RESEARCHERS
Personal Information: Cristine Marie A. Perdido
371 Looc St. Cabcaben, Mariveles, Bataan
 (047) 237 3355
cristinealayon0131@yahoo.com

Felix M. Calubaquib
University of Cagayan Valley
Balzain hi-way, Tuguegarao City, Cagayan
felix.madrigo@gmail.com

Reynaldo S. Mejia
Kings College of the Philippines
Pico Rd., La Trinidad, Benguet
09108823176
reynaldsmejia@yahoo.com

Mary Jane M. Candoy

Data Center College of the Philippines-Baguio City
Corner Sumulong St., Upper Bonifacio, Baguio City
Mjmc193@gmail.com

Shelaniejean L. Lim
Divine Word College of Benguet
Rizal St., Zone 6, Bangued, Abra
(074) 752 8003

Educational Background
Month/Year
From To
Cristine Marie A. Perdido BPSU (MA Ed Maj. Gen Sci) 2013 2015
Felix M. Calubaquib Univ. of La Salette (Ph D.) 2006
Reynaldo S. Mejia BSU (PhD Ed Man 2017
Shelaniejean L. Lim Divine Word College of Bagued (MIT)
Mary Jane M. Candoy UC (BS N) 2007 2011
UC (BS Ed) 2016 2016
Relevant Training
Publications and Research Experience
Production (Ongoing) Project Staff (Funding Agency)

There will be information dissemination that will be conducted to present the results of
the study. A training workshop and capacity building program will also be conducted for
the farmers to enable them learn the technology used in the study.

B. LIST OF EQUIPMENT/FACILITIES AVAILABLE AT THE PROPONENTS

AGENCY

MAAP CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS Laboratory

a. specimen containers
b. platform balances
c. treatment room
d. oxygen supply