A method for screening antifouling paints using the CIELAB coordinates of sp. under a flow-through condition.

A laboratory test with a flow-through system was designed and its applicability to testing antifouling paints of varying efficacies was investigated. Six different formulations of antifouling paints were prepared to have increased contents (0 to 40 wt%) of CuO. The test plates were initially aged for 45 days by rotating them at a speed of 10 knots inside a cylinder drum. A bioassay was then conducted using the alga, sp., as the test species. The new bioassay for screening antifouling paints under a flow-through system was successfully established using algae affixed on substrata. The correlation between the mean values of CIELAB parameters (, and ), the total colour difference (*), and the cell survival rate of the algae was investigated. The paint performance estimated from the bioassay was confirmed using correlation patterns between colour parameters and the algal cell survival rate.