Pilings and other structures in the marine environment are protected primarily by impregnation with creosote alone, or in combination with coal tar or waterborne preservatives such as copper-chrome-arsenate. Some of these materials are considered as possible ecological hazards and face an uncertain future; perhaps newly developed treatments to replace these conventional ones will pose different problems. Today, for a toxic substance to be approved by cognizant government regulatory agencies it must undergo an extensive evaluation to determine its impact upon the environment. Consequently an initial assessment of the potential environmental impact must be determined for all compounds which have shown promise against marine borers and fungi in our investigations. This has been accomplished by determining their toxicity to marine algae which are the primary producers in the food chain. The principal organism used for this purpose has been Phaeodactylum tricornutum Bohlin, but Cyclotella nana and Chaetoceros galvestonensis have also been used.

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