• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.87-91
• /
• 2003

This study was carried out to investigate the heavy metal distributions of soils in the vicinity of Shi-Hwa industrial complex region, where the air pollutants from industrial area could affect the soil environment of near residential and green areas. The ranges of contents of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn in soils were 0.58~3.81, ND~0.91, 0.15~6.33, ND~l.86, 0.14~110.27, ND~l.17, 0.04~10.59, 1.16~86.48 and 1.83~212.65 mg/kg, respectively. For all industrial, residential and green areas, the heavy metal contents were much lower than the standard of Korean Soil Environmental Preservation Act or the critical concentration which phytotoxicity is considered to be possible. Mean values of contents of As were similar in industrial, residential and green areas. However, the mean values of contents of Cd and Cr in industrial area were higher 10 and 5 times than those in residential and green area, respectively. And also the mean values of contents of Co, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn in industrial area were higher 2~3 times than those in residential and green area.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.257-265
• /
• 2008

Nanotechnology is emerging as one of the key technologies of the 21 st century and is expected to enable one to broaden the applicability across a wide range of sectors that can benefit public and improve industrial competitiveness. Already, consumer products containing nanomaterials are available in markets including coatings, computers, clothing, cosmetics, sports equipment and medical devices. Recently, Institute of Occupational Medicine in UK reported an occupational hygiene review for nanoparticles in the viewpoint of nanotoxicity. They reported that the exposure control is very important issues in workplace for exposure assessment, but no proper methods are available to measure the extent of exposures to nanoparticles in the workplace. Therefore, for the estimation of exposure of nanomaterials, we have to approach the material-balance methodology, which similarly carried out in TRI (toxic release inventory) for hazardous chemicals. In order to use this methodology, the exposure source of nanomaterials should be determined firstly. Therefore, herein we investigated the main sources and processes for the exposure to nanomaterals by conducting the survey. The results could be used to define and assess nanohazard sources.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.67-78
• /
• 2007

The eye irritant test of lens washing agent, CLIWELL$^{TM}$ was conducted using Draize methods according to KFDA Guidelines. In addition, to test the potential toxicity of test articles, the ratio of inflammatory cells and non-inflammatory epitheloid cells was also observed using smear cytology methods against ocular discharge. At sacrifice, the histopathological changes on Cornea, Iris, Retina and Sclera were also observed in all animals. Slight irritancy of cornea and conjunctiva was observed at 1, 2 and 3 days after dropping in non-washing group. The MIOI of these points are detected as 4.50, 1.67 and 0.67, respectively. In washing group, slight irritancy of cornea and conjunctiva were observed at 1 and 2 days after dropping with MIOI as 0.67, respectively. Therefore, CLIWELL$^{TM}$ was considered as non-irritating materials because the MIOI is detected below 5.00 throughout the whole experimental periods in both washing and non-washing groups and the IAOI was also detected as 4.50. Except for significant increase of the inflammatory cell ratios in ocular discharge at 1 day after dropping of non-washing group compared to that non-treated intact eyes, no meaningful changes on smear cytology of ocular discharges are observed in this study. In addition, no abnormal histopathological changes on the cornea, iris, retina and sclera were also detected in CLIWELL$^{TM}$ dropping group compared to that of non-treated intact eyes.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.299-310
• /
• 2006

The eye irritant test of lens washing agent, $SOLOCARE^{TM}$ was conducted using Draize methods according to KFDA Guidelines 1999-61. In addition, to test the potential toxicity of test articles the ratio of inflammatory cells and non-inflammatory epitheloid cells were also observed using smear cytology methods against ocular discharge. At sacrifice, the histopathological changes on Cornea, Iris, Retina and Sclera were also observed in all animals. Slight (1~2 degrees) irritancy of cornea and conjunctiva were observed at 1, 2 and 3 days after dropping in non-washing group. The MIOI of these points are detected as 4.33, 3.33 and 2.00, respectively. In washing group, slight irritancy of cornea and conjunctiva were restricted to 1 and 2 days after dropping with MIOI as 3.00 and 1.33, respectively. Therefore, $SOLOCARE^{TM}$ was also considered as non-irritating materials because the MIOI is detected below 5.00 throughout the whole experimental periods in both washing and non-washing groups and the IAOI is also detected as 4.33 (1 day after dropping). No meaningful changes on smear cytology of ocular discharges are observed in this study compared to that of non-treated intact eyes. In addition, no abnormal histopathological changes on the cornea, iris, retina and sclera were also detected in $SOLOCARE^{TM}$ dropping group compared to that of non-treated intact eyes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.91-101
• /
• 2000

The emission sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are wastewater treatment plants. sanitary landfills, automobile industries, and so on. The VOCs are harmful to human beings because of their toxicity and carcinogenicity, and cause the serious air pollution problem producing ozone ($O_3$) as a result of photochemical reaction. To investigate the emission of VOCs from wastewater treatment plant, aeration basins at the City of Los Angeles' Hyperion Treatment Plant were selected and measured flux was compared with calculated flux. For compounds commonly associated with wastewater (DCM, TCM, PCE, UM, DCB, UND) and not expected in vehicle exhaust or ambient air coming off the ocean, concentrations immediately downwind of the aeration basins were a factor of ten or higher than those measured in the upwind air. The airborne flux of less degradable or non-biodegradable compounds, e.g., DCE, DCM, TCA, DCA, TCM, PCE, DCB, through an imaginary plane at the downwind side of the aeration basins was in agreement with the estimated flux from measured liquid phase concentrations. Henry's constant. aeration rate, and an assumption of bubble saturation. For several compounds (PCE, DCE, TCA), the ratio (measured flux/calculated flux) is almost unity.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
• /
• v.50 no.1
• /
• pp.73-83
• /
• 2014

The objective of the this study was to investigate the binding capacity and removal ability of lactic acid bacterial strains obtained from Korean soybean paste for mutagenic heterocyclic amines (HCAs) formed during cooking of protein-rich food at high temperature. Among 19 strains identified by carbohydrate fermentation and 16S rRNA sequencing, the live cell or cell-free culture supernatant of Lactobacillus acidophilus D11, Enterococcus faecium D12, Pediococcus acidilactici D19, L. acidophilus D38, Lactobacillus sakei D44, Enterococcus faecalis D66, and Lactobacillus plantarum D70 inhibited the mutagenesis caused by either 3-amino-1,4-dimethyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b] indole (Trp-P-1) or 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b] indole (Trp-P-2) in Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100. The bacterial cells of the isolated strains showed greater binding activity than the pure cell wall, exopolysaccharide, and pepetidoglycan. The carbohydrate moieties of the cell wall or protein molecules on the cell surface have a significant role in binding Trp-P-1 and Trp-P-2, since protease, heating, sodium metaperiodate, or acidic pH treatments significantly (P<0.05) reduced the binding efficacy of the tested bacteria. Addition of metal ions or sodium dodecyl sulfate decreased the binding ability of E. faecium D12, L. acidophilus D38, and E. faecalis D66. Therefore, the binding mechanisms of these strains may consist of ion-exchange and hydrophobic bonds. Especially, the high mutagen binding by L. acidophilus D38 and L. plantarum D70 may reduce the accumulation or absorption of Trp-P-1 and Trp-P-2 in the small intestine via increased excretion of a mutagen-bacteria complex.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.149-153
• /
• 2003

This study was conducted to survey the utilization possibility of composting system of small scale static pile with animal manure produced from cattle shed and the effect of addition of microorganism on the maturity of compost. Microorganisms added in composting substrate were bacteria+lactobacillus(BL)+photo.(BLP). The composting practiced was a windrow system without aeration equipment and turning was practiced periodically. The water content of substrate mixed with cow manure, rice husk, and sawdust was about 60%. The temperature during the composting process was increased at over $60^{\circ}C$ within 3 days after composting starting. Increase of temperature at the early stage of composting was fasten in BLP and BL than Control. Because the pH of the raw material was high, the changes of pH during composting was little and stabilized in weak alkaline condition. EC value was high for accumulation of manure and urine excreted continuously by animal and the changes of those during composting occurred in 5~10% increase. Reduction rates of C/N ratio were the largest as the 22.7% in BLP and 19.2and 17.5% in BL and Control respectively. In the evaluation of phytotoxicity, there was stabilized within the short time in BLP and not the difference between BL and Control. Treatment of animal manure produced from small scale cattle shed was possible by using the small scale static pile composting system with reasonable water content and turning and the addition of microorganism in composting substrate was effected on the temperature increase at the early stage of composting and reduction of plant toxicity compounds but little on the maturity of compost.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.54 no.spc1
• /
• pp.1167-1181
• /
• 2021

In relation to the algae bloom, four types of blue-green algae that emit toxic substances are designated and managed as harmful Cyanobacteria, and prediction information using a physical model is being also published. However, as algae are living organisms, it is difficult to predict according to physical dynamics, and not easy to consider the effects of numerous factors such as weather, hydraulic, hydrology, and water quality. Therefore, a lot of researches on algal bloom prediction using machine learning have been recently conducted. In this study, the characteristic importance of water quality factors affecting the occurrence of Cyanobacteria harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) were analyzed using the random forest (RF) model for Bohyeonsan Dam and Yeongcheon Dam located in Yeongcheon-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do and also predicted the occurrence of harmful blue-green algae using the machine learning and deep learning models and evaluated their accuracy. The water temperature and total nitrogen (T-N) were found to be high in common, and the occurrence prediction of CyanoHABs using artificial neural network (ANN) also predicted the actual values closely, confirming that it can be used for the reservoirs that require the prediction of harmful cyanobacteria for algal management in the future.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.373-380
• /
• 2023

Due to abnormal climate phenomena and climate change in Korea, overgrowth of algae in rivers and reservoirs occurs frequently. Algae in rivers are classified into green algae, blue-green algae, diatom, and other types, and some species of blue-green algae cause problems due to odor and the discharge of toxic substances. In Korea, an algae alert system is in place, and it is issued based on the number of harmful blue-green algae cells. Thus, measuring harmful blue-green algal blooms is very important, and currently, the analysis method of algae involves taking field samples and determining the cell count of green algae, blue-green algae, and diatoms through algal microscopy, which takes a lot of time. Recently, the analysis of algae concentration through Phycocyanin, an alternative indicator for the number of harmful algae cells, has been conducted through remote sensing. However, research on the analysis of the number of blue-green algae cells is currently insufficient. In this study, we water samples for algal analyses were collected from river and counted the number of blue-green algae cells using algae microscopy. We also obtained the Phycocyanin concentration using an optical sensor and acquired algae spectra through a hyperspectral sensor. Based on this, we calculated the equation for estimating blue-green algae cell counts and estimated the number of blue-green algae cells.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.577-583
• /
• 2007

To overcome certain disadvantages of past typical control techniques for toxic contaminants emitted from various industrial processes, the current study was conducted to establish a thermal catalytic system using mesh-type transition-metal platinum(Pt)/stainless steel(SS) catalyst and to evaluate catalytic thermal destruction of five chlorinated hydrocarbons[chlorobenzene(CHB), chloroform(CHF), perchloroethylene (PCE), 1,1,1-trichloroethane(TCEthane), trichloroethylene(TCE)]. In addition, this study evaluated the catalyst poison effect on the catalytic thermal destruction. Three operating parameters tested for the thermal catalyst system included the inlet concentrations, the incineration temperature, and the residence time in the catalyst system. The thermal decomposition efficiency decreased from the highest value of 100% to the lowest value of almost 0%(CHB) as the input concentration increased, depending upon the type of chlorinated compounds. The destruction efficiencies of the four target compounds, except for TCEthane, increased upto almost 100% as the reaction temperature increased, whereas the destruction efficiency for TCEthane did not significantly vary. For the target compounds except for TCEthane, the catalytic destruction efficiencies increased up to 30% to 97% as the residence time increased from 10 sec to 60 sec, but the increase of destruction efficiency for TCEthane stopped at the residence time of 30 sec, suggesting that long residence times are not always proper for thermal destruction of VOCs, when considering the destruction efficiency and operation costs of thermal catalytic system together. Conclusively, the current findings suggest that when applying the transition-metal catalyst for the better destruction of chlorinated hydrocarbons, VOC type should be considered, along with their inlet concentrations, and reaction temperature and residence time in catalytic system. Meanwhile, the addition of high methyl sulfide(1.8 ppm) caused a drop of 0 to 50% in the removal efficiencies of the target compounds, whereas the addition of low methyl sulfide (0.1 ppm), which is lower than the concentrations of sulfur compounds measured in typical industrial emissions, did not cause.