The Republic of Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST, President: Hong Gi-hoon) has developed oceanic dissolved nutrient salt standard substances^* through the use of natural seawater for the third time in the world (the first time in Republic of Korea), following Canada and Japan. In particular, the related nutrient salt standard substances have recently been chosen for use in the 2014 Nutrient Salt Standard Substances Mutual Experimental Comparisons among International Laboratories, organized by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC),^** successfully securing international reliability as well.

* A standard substance that raises the accuracy of a measured value in a comparative analysis. It is usually used when analyzing the concentration of dissolved nutrient salt in sea water and to secure compatibility with data analyzed from diverse labs around the world.

** The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC): UNESCO’s only body that manages marine science programs  

The Organizing Committee, after a series of reviews on the homogeneity and safety of nutrient salt standard substances developed by KIOST, designated Japan’s standard substances to be used for mutual experimental comparisons. Therefore, during the experiment period, from December 20, 2014, to February 28, 2015, 34 laboratories in 20 countries will conduct diverse forms of research and experiments using KIOST’s nutrient salt standard substances and the results will be announced in June 2015.

The nutrient salt standard substances developed by Dr. Kim Eun-soo’s research team include five elements ？ nitrate, nitrite, ammonium, phosphate, and silicate ？ and the contents of each element are different and form three types of package to increase the levels of use when conducting analytical experiments. Particularly, as ammonium is included as a nutrient salt standard substance, it is expected to be a great asset in conducting research on marine and coastal environments.

(left) Producing nutrient salt standard substances in a thermally-controlled clean laboratory 
/ (right) Vacuum-packed nutrient salt standard substances by KIOST