• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
• /
• v.1 no.1
• /
• pp.47-54
• /
• 1996

Soil pollution indices (SPI) were designed for estimating quality of soil polluted with arsenic and heavy metals. Applying the quality reference value of soil based on its multifunctional purpose was a key step. For considereing multifunctions of soil, soil was classified into 4 groups-agricultural land, residential area, recreational area, factorial site. Then, each concentration of arsenic and each of five heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn) in soils grouped was transformed to a mathematical value based on the soil quality reference value which may stand for ecological impact. Soil pollution score (SPS) was the addition of the 6 values transformed, and the range of the SPS was divided into 4 Soil Pollution Classes (SPC). The SPC 1, 2, 3, and 4 were SPS <100, SPS 100-200, SPS >200-300, and SPS >300, repectively. SPS and SPC were evaluated with the results of the data from employing the Soil Network of 1994. Based on the soil quality reference values, SPS and SPC of the Soil Network's data were transformed and classified, respectively. Then, SPS and SPC were compared with arsenic and the 5 heavy metal contents of their reference values resulted from the Soil Network's. From this method, soil quality of most of the Soil Network area was estimated to be healthy. However, ca. 3.0~4.0% of the Soil Network area was determined in a range of slightly and heavily polluted. As the mean value of SPS of the Soil Network's was 66.2 which indicates most of soil evaluated was healthy. When the SPSs of the data were divided into 4 groups of SPC, Class 1 (Good quality of soil), Class 2 (Need to be checked area 1), Class 3 (Need to be checked area 2) and Class 4 (Polluted area) were 87.0, 9.4, 2.4, 1.2%, respectively. Using SPI were comparable to those of heavy metal contents in soils, and would be comprehenve to determine the status of soil qulity. Methodology of the developing SPI would be applicable to the other soil pollutants such as organic and inorganics than arsenic and 5 heavy metals used here.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Sciences Society Conference
• /
• 1998.10a
• /
• pp.2-4
• /
• 1998

Proliferation of Nocardia amarae cells in activated sludge has often been associated with the generation of nuisance foams. Despite intense research activities in recent years to examine the causes and control of Nocardia foaming in activated sludge, the foaming continued to persist throughout the activated sludge treatment plants in United States. In addition to causing various operational problems to treatment processes, the presence of Nocardia may have secondary effects on the fate of heavy metals that are not well known. For example, for treatment plants facing more stringent metal removal requirements, potential metal removal by Nocardia cells in foaming activated sludge would be a welcome secondary effect. In contrast, with new viosolid disposal regulations in place (Code o( Federal Regulation No. 503), higher concentration of metals in biosolids from foaming activated sludge could create management problems. The goal of this research was to investigate the metal sorption property of Nocardia amarae cells grown in batch reactors and in chemostat reactors. Specific surface area and metal sorption characteristics of N. amarae cells harvested at various growth stages were compared. Three metals examined in this study were copper, cadmium and nickel. Nocardia amarae strain (SRWTP isolate) used in this study was obtained from the University of California at Berkeley. The pure culture was grown in 4L batch reactor containing mineral salt medium with sodium acetate as the sole carbon source. In order to quantify the sorption of heavy metal ions to N amarae cell surfaces, cells from the batch reactor were harvested, washed, and suspended in 30mL centrifuge tubes. Metal sorption studies were conducted at pH 7.0 and ionlc strength of 10-2M. The sorption Isotherm showed that the cells harvested from the stationary and endogenous growth phase exhibited significantly higher metal sorption capacity than the cells from the exponential phase. The sequence of preferential uptake of metals by N. amarae cells was Cu>Cd>Ni. The specific surFace area of Nocardia cells was determined by a dye adsorption method. N.amarae cells growing at ewponential phase had significantly less specific surface area than that of stationary phase, indicating that the lower metal sorption capacity of Nocardia cells growing at exponential phase may be due to the lower specific surface area. The growth conditions of Nocardia cells in continuous culture affect their cell surface properties, thereby governing the adsorption capacity of heavy metal. The comparison of dye sorption isotherms for Nocardia cells growing at various growth rates revealed that the cell surface area increased with increasing sludge age, indicating that the cell surface area is highly dependent on the steady-state growth rate. The highest specific surface area of 199m21g was obtained from N.amarae cell harvested at 0.33 day-1 of growth rate. This result suggests that growth condition not only alters the structure of Nocardia cell wall but also affects the surface area, thus yielding more binding sites of metal removal. After reaching the steady-state condition at dilution rate, metal adsorption isotherms were used to determine the equilibrium distributions of metals between aqueous and Nocardia cell surfaces. The metal sorption capacity of Nocardia biomass harvested from 0.33 day-1 of growth rate was significantly higher than that of cells harvested from 0.5- and 1-day-1 operation, indicatng that N.amarae cells with a lower growth rate have higher sorpion capacity. This result was in close agreement with the trend observed from the batch study. To evaluate the effect of Nocardia cells on the metal binding capacity of activated sludge, specific surface area and metal sorption capacity of the mixture of Nocardia pure cultures and activated sludge biomass were determined by a series of batch experiments. The higher levels of Nocardia cells in the Nocardia-activated sludge samples resulted in the higher specific surface area, explaining the higher metal sorption sites by the mixed luquor samples containing greater amounts on Nocardia cells. The effect of Nocardia cells on the metal sorption capacity of activated sludge was evaluated by spiking an activated sludge sample with various amounts of pre culture Nocardia cells. The results of the Langmuir isotherm model fitted to the metal sorption by various mixtures of Nocardia and activated sludge indicated that the mixture containing higher Nocardia levels had higher metal adsorption capacity than the mixture containing lower Nocardia levels. At Nocardia levels above 100mg/g VSS, the metal sorption capacity of activate sludge increased proportionally with the amount of Noeardia cells present in the mixed liquor, indicating that the presence of Nocardia may increase the viosorption capacity of activated sludge.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.68-75
• /
• 2008

The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality characteristics and antioxidant activity of yogurt containing spirulina. Yogurt base was prepared from skim milk added with $0.25{\sim}1%(w/v)$ spirulina powder and fermented with lactic acid bacteria (S. thermophilus : L. bulgaricus = 1 : 1) at $40^{\circ}C$ for 12 hr. Kiwi puree and oligosaccharides were then added. The addition of 1% spirulina powder stimulated the growth of lactic acid bacteria, which showed the highest viable cell count ($3.4{\times}10^9$ CFU/mL), and increased the titratable acidity (1.10%). The viscosity range of the yogurt was 6,000 to 9,000 cP, and the sugar content of the yogurt was around 18 $^{\circ}Brix$. The antioxidant activities were determined using the DPPH method, and the hydroxyl radical scavenging activity of the yogurt containing spirulina was higher than that of the control. The sensory evaluation scores for appearance, odor, taste, overall acceptability and buying intention were higher in the yogurt containing 0.25% spirulina than in the other groups. The amount of macronutrients in the yogurt containing spirulina was higher than that in the control. In addition, the amounts of micronutrients in the yogurt containing spirulina was significantly increased. According to these results, the optimum concentration of spirulina powder is around 0.25%.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.539-549
• /
• 2012

In order to acquire basic data on the development of squid processing food, we investigated changes in the composition of boiled squid upon heat treatment ($100^{\circ}C$), acid treatment (acetic acid, 0~5%), and pre-boiling ($55^{\circ}C$, $80^{\circ}C$). The proximate composition of squid was 73~78% moisture and 19~24% crude protein, treatment with acid solution had a significant effect on the proximate composition of boiled squid (p<0.05). The major free sugars were ribose and glucose in all treatment samples. The $55^{\circ}C$ pre-boiled sample had lower levels of glucose than the other samples. The total free sugar content of the non-peeled sample was the highest, followed by the $80^{\circ}C$ pre-boiled sample, whereas the sugar content in the $55^{\circ}C$ pre-boiled sample was very low. With regards to amino acid content, proline was the highest in all samples, followed by taurine and histidine. Treatment with acid solution had a significant effect on the total free amino content of boiled squid (p<0.05). The total free amino acid content of the $55^{\circ}C$ pre-boiled sample was the highest, followed by the $80^{\circ}C$ pre-boiled sample and non-peeled sample. Inosine and related compounds were not detected in any of the samples, and the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content was low. The hypoxanthine contents of the $55^{\circ}C$ and $80^{\circ}C$ pre-boiled samples were the highest, the adenosine monophosphate (AMP) and inosine monophosphate (IMP) contents were similar, and the IMP content of the non-peeled sample was higher than those of the peeled samples. The palmitic acid content was very high and constituted 40% of total saturated fatty acids. eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) contents were also high and constituted 60% of total unsaturated fatty acids. Of these, DHA content was the highest, followed by palmitic acid and EPA, which accounted for about 85% of total fatty acids. No difference in fatty acid content was observed between acid treatment and pre-boiling. The mineral P content was the highest on average in all boiled squid samples, followed by K, Na, Mg, and Ca contents. In addition, the pre-boiling temperature and acid solution concentration had significant effects on the mineral content. Further, heavy metal, Cd, Pb, and As contents were detected only at trace amounts, and their levels were lower than standard and permissible amounts for food.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.550-560
• /
• 2012

This study was performed to investigate the physicochemical properties of sea urchin ($Anthocidaris$ $crassispina$, $Pseudocentrotus$ $depressus$, $Hernicentrotus$ $pulcherrimus$) roe as a processed or canned food by steaming treatment. Proximate compositions of $A.$ $crassispina$ roe and $P.$ $depressus$ roe were similar, but water, crude ash, and carbohydrate contents of $H.$ $pulcherrimus$ roe showed little differences. Proximate compositions of sea urchin roe showed slight differences with steaming time, raw samples showed no differences. Glycine content of the three raw sea urchin roe samples showed the highest concentration among free amino acids, followed by arginine, alanine, and lysine, in order. Total free amino acid contents of raw sea urchin roe were 754.70 mg% ($A.$ $crassispina$), 567.75 mg% ($P.$ $depressus$), and 449.44 mg% ($H.$ $pulcherrimus$). Total free amino acid content of 5 min steaming sample was highest among steaming and canning conditions. ATP, ADP, and AMP contents of raw $P.$ $depressus$ roe sample was higher than those of $A.$ $crassispina$and $H.$ $pulcherrimus$ roe. Major fatty acids of the three raw sea urchin roe samples were myristic acid, palmitic acid, and EPA. S.F.A. content of raw samples of $A.$ $crassispina$and $H.$ $pulcherrimus$ roe was higher than U.F.A content, whereas U.F.A. content of $P.$ $depressus$ roe was highest among the three raw samples. For minerals K, P, Fe, and Zn contents were highest in $A.$ $crassispina$roe while Ca, Mg, Na, and Cu contents were highest in $H.$ $pulcherrimus$ roe. For heavy metals, Cd, Pb and As were detected in all samples in trace amounts under the criteria of the Korea food codex.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.310-315
• /
• 2011

BACKGROUND: Heavy-metal pollution represents an important environmental problem due to the toxic effects of metals, and their accumulation throughout the food chain leads to serious ecological and health problems. METHODS AND RESULTS: Optimum conditions in continuous-flow stirred tank reactor (CSTR) and packedbed column contactor (PBCC) using brown seaweed biosorbent were investigated. Under optimum conditions from both lab-scale biosorbent systems, removal efficiency of copper (Cu) in a large-scale PBCC system was investigated. Removal capacity of Cu using brown seaweed biosorbent in a lab-scale CSTR system was higher than that in a lab-scale PBCC system. On the other hand, over 48 L/day of flow rate in Cu solution, removal efficiency of Cu in a lab-scale PBCC system was higher than that in a lab-scale CSTR system. Optimum flow rate of Cu was 24 L/day, optimum Cu solution concentration was 100 mg/L. Removal capacity of Cu at different stages was higher in the order of double column biosorption system > single column biosorption system. Under different heavy metals, removal capacities of heavy metal were higher in the order of Pb > Cr > Ni > Mn ${\geq}$ Cu ${\geq}$ Cd ${\fallingdotseq}$ Zn ${\geq}$ Co. Removal capacity of Cu was 138 L in a large-scale PBCC system. Removal capacity of Cu a large-scale PBCC system was similar with in a lab-scale PBCC system. CONCLUSION(s): Therefore, PBCC system using brown seaweed biosorbent was suitable for treating heavy metal wastewater.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.35-63
• /
• 1989

Geochemical characteristics of the Guryongsan (Ogcheon) uraniferous black slate show that this is an analogue to the conventional Chattanooga and Alum shales in occurrences. Whereas, its highest enrichment ratio in metals including uranium, among others, is explained by the cyclic sedimentation of the black muds and quartz-rich silts, and the uniform depositional condition with some what higher pH condition compared to the conditions of the known occurrences. The cyclic sedimentation, caused by the periodic open and close of the silled basin, has brought about the flush-out) of the uranium depleted water and the recharge with the new metal-rich sea water, which consequently contributed to the high concentration of metals in mud. The metal-rich marine black muds, which mostly occur in the early to middle Palaeozoic times, is attributed by the geologic conditions which related to the atmospheric oxygen contents, and these are scarcely met in the late Precambrian and/or with the onset of Palaeozoic era in the geologic evolution of the earth.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2001

Total upland area for cultivating the vegetable crops in the Alpine soils of Northeastern South Korea has been extending its limit to meet the increasing demand of vegetable food in recent decades. About 70% of these alpine soils are located in over 7% of the slope and most of vegetable crops have been cultivated intensively without practicing the best management systems. Thus, soil erosion and continuous cropping system have degenerated the soil fertility and shown detrimental effects on water quality. We initiated an intensive and extensive investigation to characterize the fertility problems encountered in these uplands. Objectives of this paper were to characterize the fertility status in the Alpine soils cultivated with vegetable crops for many years and to provide the recommendations for adequate soil management measures including fertilization and erosion control. Soils in general have good drainage with textural classes of loam or sandy loam. Their topographical characteristics tended to lead them to shallow plow layers, and the steepness of the terrain created erosion hazard. Of the soils examined, about 11% of uplands over 30% gradient was found in need of an urgent reforestation. A high content of gravel and firm hardness of soil attributed to inhibit the utilization of farm machinery and plant-root development. The average soil pH 5.6 was slightly low relative to pH 5.70 of the national average. Organic matter content was high compared with 2.0% of national average, but decreased with the prolonged cultivation periods. Available $P_2O_5$ concentration was unusually high due to the consequence of over dose application with chemical and organic fertilizers. Exchangeable cations as Ca, Mg, and K were appeared to be decreased in these regions with prolonging the cultivation periods. There were no significant differences in cation exchange capacity (CEC) and electrical conductivity (EC) among locations. Heavy metal contents were mostly lower than the threshold of danger level designated by Soil Environment Conservation Law of South Korea. Results indicated that a proper countermeasure and the best management practice should be immediately implemented to conserve the top soil and fertility in the Alpine regions.