• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.565-583
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• 2020

In recent years, various social issues related to the natural radioactive elements detected in household goods and building materials are addressed, and should be solved promptly. In Korea, for more than 20 years, the Ministry of Environment has investigated the natural radioactive materials such as heavy metals, uranium, and radon in soil or groundwater. The origins of natural radioactive materials in them may have a close correlation with the geological factors including classification of rocks, petrogenetic origins, and deformation characteristics, but the exact geological correlations are not clarified because of the absence of the government policy preserved in the basement rocks, soils as well as groundwater in fault-related reservoirs. This study aims to perform a research on the correlation between the petrogeneses of the Phanerozoic plutonic rocks and natural radioactive concentrations in rocks (radon, uranium, thorium, potassium etc.) in Korea. Among the Phanerozoic plutonic rocks, alkaline plutonic rocks (syenite, monzonite and monzodiorite and alkali granite) show high U and Th concentrations by high solubilities of U, Th, Zr, REE, and Nb until the most extreme stages of magmatic fractionation (viz. crystal fractionation) due to high magma temperature and high alkalinity tendency. The highly fractionated high-K calalkaline and peraluminous granitic rocks (leucogranite, two-mica granite and leucocratic pegmatite are also U and Th concentrations compared with other less or medium fractionated granitic rocks (diorite, granodiorite and granite). The alkaline plutonic rocks are associated with intracontinental rifting and extensional environment after crustal thickening by collisional and subductional processes. In contrast, the dominant calc-alkaline granitic rocks in Korea are related to the arc environment of the subduction zone. In summary, the trends of the U, Th and K concentration from the Phanerozoic plutonic rocks in Korea are closely linked to the petrogenesis of the rocks in tectonic environment. The preliminary data for gamma-spectrometric mesurments of natural radionuclide contents (²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K) in the Phanerozoic plutonic rocks show high values in the alkaline and highly fractionated granitic rocks.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.368-375
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• 2006

Single and complex metal oxide catalysts supported onto a commercial DT51D $TiO_2$ have been investigated for gas-phase TCE oxidation in a continuous flow type fixed-bed reaction system to develop a better design approach to catalysts for this reaction. Among the $TiO_2$-supported single metal oxides used, i.e., $CrO_x,\;FeO_x,\;MnO_x,\;LaO_x,\;CoO_x,\;NiO_x,\;CeO_x\;and\;CuO_x$, with the respective metal contents of 5 wt.%, the $CrO_x/TiO_2$ catalyst was shown to be most active for the oxidative TCE decomposition, depending significantly on amounts of $CrO_x\;on\;TiO_2$. The use of high $CrO_x$ loadings greater than 10 wt.% caused lower activity in the catalytic TCE oxidation, which is probably due to production of $Cr_2O_3$ crystallites on the surface of $TiO_2$. $CrO_x/TiO_2$-supported $CrO_x$-based bimetallic oxide catalysts were of particular interest in removal efficiency for this TCE oxidation reaction at reaction temperatures above $200^{\circ}C$, compared to that obtained with $CrO_x$-free complex metal oxides and a 10 wt.% $CrO_x/TiO_2$ catalyst. Catalytic activity of 5 wt.% $CrO_x-5$ wt.% $LaO_x$ in the removal reaction was similar to or slightly higher than that acquired for the $CrO_x$-only catalyst. Similar observation was revealed for 5 wt.% $CrO_x$-based bimetallic oxides consisting of either 5 wt.% $MnO_x,\;CoO_x,\;NiO_x\;or\;FeO_x$. These results represent that such $CrO_x$-based bimetallic systems for the catalytic TCE oxidation on significantly minimize the usage of $CrO_x$ that is well known to be one of very toxic heavy metals, and offer a very useful technique to design new type catalysts for reducing chlorinated volatile organic substances.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.51-63
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• 2015

In order to investigation long-term variations of water qualities in the Saemangeum Salt-Water Lake formed after the sea-dike construction, the survey has carried out over 40 time from 2002 to 2010. The decreased salinity in surface water immediately after the dike construction has maintained on equal terms for years. After the dike construction, the early concentration of SPM in surface water has decreased but then it showed the tendency to move up and down due to the changes of water level in the lake. The elevated concentration of Chl-a in surface water initially after the dike construction was kept at the same conditions for years. The concentration of DIN in surface water has not changed before and shortly after the dike construction. However, the concentration of $NH_4-N$ in surface water has increased steadily after the dike construction. Consequently the concentration of DIN in the lake water after years has raised compared to pre-dike construction. The reduced concentration of DIP in surface water soon after the dike construction has increased after years as well as $NH_4-N$ due to the accumulation of organic matter to inside lake. Unlike with the unvaried $NO_3-N$, the concentration of DISi in surface water after the dike construction has immediately increased and maintained the enhanced level indicating the supply from other sources except the freshwater. Since the dike construction, the spatial characteristics of water quality was divided river sides and rest of the lake markedly. Stratification of river sides was more strong than the dike sides. In the warm seasons, hypoxia causing the release of nutrients and metals from sediment was observed downward about 1 m from surface of river sides. We strongly suggest to make some urgent measure to prevent low dissolved oxygen condition in the bottom layer of the river sides.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.93-100
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• 2003

Objectives : Because shipyard workers are involved with various manufacturing process, they are exposed to many kinds of hazardous materials. Welders especially, are exposed to bisphenol-A (BPA) during the welding and flame cutting of coated steel, This study was conducted to assess the exposure status of the endocrine disrupter based on the job-exposure matrix. The effects of the genetic polymorphism of xenobiotic enzyme metabolisms involved in the metabolism of BPA on the levels of urinary metabolite were investigated. Methods : The study population was recruited from a shipyard company in the f province. A total of 84 shipbuilding workers 47 and 37 in the exposed and control groups, respectively, were recruited for this study. The questionnaire variables included, age, sex, use of personal protective equipment, smoking, drinking and work duration. The urinary metabolite was collected in the afternoon and correction made for the urinary creatinine concentration. The of the CYP1A1, CYP2E1 and UGT1A6 genotypes were investigated using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) methods with the DNA extracted from venous blood. Results : The urinary BPA level in the welders group was significantly higher than in the control group (p<0.05). The urinary BPA concentration with the wild type UGT1A6 was higher than the other UGT1A6 genotypes, but with no statistical significant. From themultiple regression analysis of the urinary BPA, the regression coefficient for job grade was statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusions : The grade of exposure to BPA affected the urinary BPA concentration was statistically significant. However, the genetic polymorphisms of xenobiotics enzyme metabolism were not statistically significant. Further investigation of the genetic polymorphisms with a larger sample size is needed.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.334-339
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• 2014

The purpose of our study was to investigate the migration level of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), antimony (Sb), arsenic (As), hexavalent chromium ($Cr^{6+}$) and mercury (Hg) from cookwares into food simulants and to evaluate the safety of each heavy metals. The test articles for heavy metals were glassware, ceramics, enamel, earthenware, polypropylene and polyethylene cookwares for Pb and Cd, enamel for Sb, earthenware for As, polyethylene and polypropylene cookwares for $Cr^{6+}$ and Hg. All the article samples of 391 intended for contact with foods were purchased in domestic markets. Pb, Cd, Sb and As were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES), $Cr^{6+}$ by UV visible spectrophotometer and Hg by mercury analyzer. The migration levels of heavy metals in all the samples were within the migration limits of Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). As a result of safety evaluation, our results showed that the estimated daily intakes (EDI, mg/kg bw/day) were $9.12{\times}10^{-6}$ and $8.83{\times}10^{-7}$ for Pb and Cd from ceramics and $1.19{\times}10^{-5}$, $1.23{\times}10^{-5}$ and $7.52{\times}10^{-6}$ for Pb, Cd and Sb from enamel. Tolerable daily intakes (TDI, mg/kg bw/day) were established respectively as 0.0036, 0.00081, 0.0021, and 0.0006 for Pb, Cd, As and Hg by JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives), as 0.0060 for Sb by WHO (World Health Organization). When comparing with TDIs, the EDIs accounted for 0.25% and 0.11% for Pb and Cd from ceramics and 0.33%, 1.52% and 0.13% for Pb, Cd and Sb from enamel.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2019

The health benefits associated with consumption of fresh produce have been clearly demonstrated and encouraged by international nutrition and health authorities. However, since fresh produce is usually minimally processed, increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables has also led to a simultaneous escalation of foodborne illness cases. According to the report by the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 in 10 people suffer from foodborne diseases and 420,000 die every year globally. In comparison to other processed foods, fresh produce can be easily contaminated by various routes at different points in the supply chain from farm to fork. This review is focused on the identification and characterization of possible sources of foodborne illnesses from chemical, biological, and physical hazards and the applicable methodologies to detect potential contaminants. Agro-chemicals (pesticides, fungicides and herbicides), natural toxins (mycotoxins and plant toxins), and heavy metals (mercury and cadmium) are the main sources of chemical hazards, which can be detected by several methods including chromatography and nano-techniques based on nanostructured materials such as noble metal nanoparticles (NMPs), quantum dots (QDs) and magnetic nanoparticles or nanotube. However, the diversity of chemical structures complicates the establishment of one standard method to differentiate the variety of chemical compounds. In addition, fresh fruits and vegetables contain high nutrient contents and moisture, which promote the growth of unwanted microorganisms including bacterial pathogens (Salmonella, E. coli O157: H7, Shigella, Listeria monocytogenes, and Bacillus cereus) and non-bacterial pathogens (norovirus and parasites). In order to detect specific pathogens in fresh produce, methods based on molecular biology such as PCR and immunology are commonly used. Finally, physical hazards including contamination by glass, metal, and gravel in food can cause serious injuries to customers. In order to decrease physical hazards, vision systems such as X-ray inspection have been adopted to detect physical contaminants in food, while exceptional handling skills by food production employees are required to prevent additional contamination.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 1995

The reliable measurement of metal in biological media in human body is one of critical indicators for the proper evaluation of its toxic effect on human health. Recently in Korea the necessity of quality assurance of measurement in occupational health and occupational hygiene fields brought out regulatory quality control program. Lead is often used as a standard metal for the program in both fields of occupational health and hygiene. During last 20 years lead poisoning was prevalent in Korea and still is one of main heavy metal poisoning and the capability of the measurement of blood lead is one of prerequisites for institute of specialized occupational health in Korea. Furthermore blood lead is most important indicator to evaluate lead burden of human exposure to lead and the reliable and accurate analysis is most needed whenever possible. To evaluate the extent of the interlaboratory differences of blood lead measurement in several well-known institute specialized in occupational health in Korea, authors prepared 68 blood samples from two storage battery industries and all samples were divided into samples with 2 ml. One set of 68 samples were analyzed by authors's laboratory(Soonchunhyang University Institute of Industrial Medicine: SIIM) and 40 samples of other set were analyzed by C University Institute of Industrial Medicine(CIIM) and the rest 28 samples of other set were analyzed by Japanese institute(K Occupational Health Center:KOHC). Authors also prepared test bovine samples which were obtained from Japanese Federation of Occupational Health Organization (JFOHO) for quality control. Authors selected 2 other well-known occupational health laboratories and one laboratory specialized for instrumental analysis. A total of 6 laboratories joined the interlaboratory comparison of blood lead measurement and the results obtained were as follows: 1. There was no significant difference in average blood lead between SIIM and CIIM in different group of blood lead concentration, and the relative standard deviation of two laboratories was less than 3.0%. On the other hand, there was also no significant difference of average blood lead between SIIM and KOHC with relative standard deviation of 6.84% as maximum. 2. Taking less than 15% difference of mean or less than 6 ug/dl difference in below 40 ug/dl in whole blood as a criteria of agreement of measurement between two laboratories, agreement rates were 87.5%(35/40) and 78.6%(22/28) between SIIM and CIIM, SIIM and KOHC respectively. 3. The correlation of blood lead between SIIM and CIIM was 0.975 (p=0.0001) and the regression equation was SIIM = 2.19 + 0.9243 ClIM, whereas the correlation between SUM and KOHC was O.965(p=0.0001) with the equation of SIIM = 1.91 + 0.9794 KOHC. 4. Taking the reference value as a dependent variable and each of 6 laboratories's measurement value as a independent variable, the determination coefficient($R^2$) of simple regression equations of blood lead measurement for bovine test samples were very high($R^2>0.99$), and the regression coefficient(${\beta}$) was between 0.972 and 1.15 which indicated fairly good agreement of measurement results.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.217-235
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• 2012

We evaluated the geochemical characteristics and their potential pollution of Asian Dusts in Daejeon, Korea during spring 2007. Compared with the chemical compositions of soils in source area of Asian Dust, those of aerosols in Daejeon were enriched with trace elements (ten to hundred fold), inferring that pollutants from China have affected on local environment in adjoining country such as Korea. Chemical analysis of aerosols during Asian dust showed that fine particles ($PM_{2.5}$) contained high contents of trace elements such as Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, V, S, As, Cd, Co, Ni, Mo, Sb, Cs, Rb, Th, Sc and Y. In the case of TSP (Total Suspended Particle), Zr, Sr, Ba, Li, Th and U were contained much more than other trace elements. The contents of some elements (i.e. Li, Cs, Co, U, Cr, Ni, Rb, V, Th, Y, Sr and Sc) in aerosols collected in Asian Dust period, which are not likely enriched by air pollutants, were higher (2 - 4.2 fold) than those in Non Asian Dust period, indicating that these elements could be used as indicator elements for determining the occurrence of Asian Dust phenomena (especially, Sr, V, Cr & Li). In the case of Asian Dust coming through the big cities and/or industrial areas of China, the domestic aerosols had higher contents of trace elements (such as S, Cd, Zn, Pb, Cu, Mo and As) than those from Northeastern China via North Korea, indicating that the transportation courses of air mass are very important to determine the pollution degrees. Using the enrichment factors of trace elements in aerosols during Asian Dust and Non Asian Dust, we identified that some elements (i.e. S, Zn, Cu, Pb, As, Mo and Cd) were most problematic in terms of environmental hazard aspects, and these elements could affect adverse effects on human health as well as ecosystem and surface environment (soil and water) through long-lived precipitation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.78 no.1
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• pp.11-25
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• 1989

Four regions have been selected and surveyed to investigate the effects of air pollution and acid deposition on forest ecosystem. They were Seoul as urban region, Yeochon and Ulsan as industrialized region, and Kangwondo as uncontaminated region. Soil pH and the distribution of elements were analyzed in process of time for three years as well as by distance from pollution sources. In general, forest soils acidified in process of time from pollution sources to suburban areas. Hydrogen ion concentration in forest soils increased in 1988 as much as 60% of that in previous year. Average soil pH values in coniferous forest were 4.45 in Seoul, 4.54 in Yeochon, 4.81 in Ulsan, and 6.03 in Kangwondo. Forest soil pH increased with the distance from pollution sources to suburban areas at constant rate within short ranges (up to 30 km) and at decreasing rate within long ranges (up to 200 km). On the contrary, sulfur content in soils decreased every year except in Yeochon region. Base saturation of forest soils in polluted regions were all below 20% level compared with 70% in Kangwondo region. Active aluminum content in soils increased with the soil acidification at the highest rate in Yeochon, and the next in Ulsan and Seoul. Heavy metal content such as copper and zinc in tree tissues were the lowest in Kangwondo region, and the next in Yeochon, Seoul and Ulsan.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.26 no.4 s.44
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• pp.628-649
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• 1993

This study was conducted to investigate the factors related to the poor school performance of the elementary school children. Two schools in Taegu, one in the affluent area and the other in the poor area, were selected and a total of 175 children whose school performance was within low 10 percentile (poor performers) and 97 children whose school performance were within high 5 percentile (good performers) in each class of 2nd, 4th and 6th grades were tested for the physical health, behavioral problem and family background. Each child had gone through a battery of tests including visual and hearing acuity, anthropometry (body weight, height, head circumference), intelligence (Kodae Stanford-Binet test), test anxiety (TAI-K), neurologic examination by a developmental pediatrician and heavy metal content (Pb, Cd, Zn) in hair by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. A questionnaire was administered to the mothers for prenatal and prenatal courses of the child, family environment, child's developmental history, and child's behavioral and learning problems. Another questionnaire was administered to the teachers of the children for the child's family background, arithmatic & language abilities and behavioral problem. The poor school performance had a significant correlation with male gender, high birth order, broken home, low educational and occupational levels of parents, visual problem, high test anxiety score, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), poor physical growth (weight, height, head circumference) and low I.Q. score. The factors that had a significant correlation with the poor school performance in multiple logistic regression analysis were child's birth order (odds ratio=2.06), male gender(odds ratio=5.91), broken home(odds ratio=9.29), test anxiety score(odds ratio=1.07), ADHD (odds ratio=9.67), I.Q. score (odds ratio=0.85) and height less than Korean standard mean-1S.D.(odds ratio=11.12). The heavy metal contents in hair did not show any significant correlation with poor school performance. However the lead and cadmium contents were high in males than in females. The lead content was negatively correlated with child's grade(P<0.05) and zinc was positively correlated with grade (P<0.05). among the factors that showed a significant correlation with the poor school performance, high birth order, short stature and ADHD may be modified by a good family planning, good feeding practice for infant and child, and early detection and treatment of ADHD. Also, teacher and parents should restrain themselves from inducing excessive test anxiety by forcing the child to study and over-expecting beyond the child's intellectual capability.