• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.1-14
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• 2004

As environmental issues have been become critical concerns of business, many domestic small and medium enterprises(SME's) are rapidly accepting environmental management systems(EMS) that confirm ISO 14001 guidelines. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an empirical study carried out on a sample of certified SME's with the aim of identifying obstacles encountered in adopting ISO 14001 standards and the impact of environmental systems on corporate performance after implementation of the ISO 14001 registration process. Data from this study show that the vast majority of respondents reported environmental improvements related to the implementation of an ISO 14001 EMS, especially in the area of employees' participation of the environmental management and responsibilities for reducing negative impacts, energy and resource conservation, materials reuse, and raising top management commitment. The greatest obstacles for implementing the ISO 14001 standard are lack of cooperation and a scarcity of resources such as personnel, money, and time. Results of this study serve as a reference point understanding the problems in the implementation of ISO 14001 in other small and medium firms.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.59-62
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• 2007

A quantitative analysis method of halogen elements in volatile organohalogen compounds was established by the Wickbold combustion pretreatment in an enclosed system and ion chromatography. The sample pretreatment parameters of Wickbold combustion were experimentally optimized, and using the determined optimal pretreatment parameters, the reproducibility was estimated by ion chromatography. As a comparison for real samples, NIST certified reference materials (CRMs) were analyzed for the recovery efficiency and reproducibility.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.284-294
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• 2010

In this study, river water-based reference materials (RMs), NIER-I08RW and NIER-I09, for trace metal analysis were prepared and certified for Pb, Cd, Cr and Cu with evaluation of uncertainties. The RMs were confirmed to be homogeneous enough to be used as proficiency testing materials since within-bottle homogenieties of the RMs were lower than 0.3 times of targeted standard deviation of proficiency testing. The RMs were distributed to environmental testing laboratories for the proficiency testing and the variation of Z scores of the proficiency testing results were compared for different assigned values. The relative bias, $B_{relative}$, deviations between reference values and consensus values, were lower than ${\pm}$1 except for cadmium of NIERI08RW. The results showed both values were in a good agreement and only 2.9% of Z scores changed by using a different assigned values such as consensus and reference values.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.127-133
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• 2021

Background: Phosphogypsum is material produced as a byproduct in fertilizer industry and is generally used for building materials. This material may contain enhanced radium-226 (²²⁶Ra) activity concentration compared to its natural concentration that may lead to indoor radon accumulation. Therefore, an accurate measurement method is proposed in this study to determine ²²⁶Ra activity concentration in phosphogypsum sample, considering the potential radon leakage from the sample container. Materials and Methods: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) phosphogypsum reference material was used as a sample in this study. High-purity germanium (HPGe) gamma spectrometry was used to measure the activity concentration of the ²²⁶Ra decay products, i.e., ²¹⁴Bi and ²¹⁴Pb. Marinelli beakers sealed with three different sealing methods were used as sample containers. Due to the potential leakage of radon from the Marinelli beaker (MB), correction to the activity concentration resulted in gamma spectrometry is needed. Therefore, the leaked fraction of radon escaped from the sample container was calculated and added to the gamma spectrometry measured values. Results and Discussion: Total activity concentration of ²²⁶Ra was determined by summing up the activity concentration from gamma spectrometry measurement and calculated concentration from radon leakage correction method. The results obtained from ²¹⁴Bi peak were 723.4 ± 4.0 Bq·kg^-1 in MB1 and 719.2 ± 3.5 Bq·kg^-1 in MB2 that showed about 5% discrepancy compared to the certified activity. Besides, results obtained from ²¹⁴Pb peak were 741.9 ± 3.6 Bq·kg^-1 in MB1 and 740.1 ± 3.4 Bq·kg^-1 in MB2 that showed about 2% difference compared to the certified activity measurement of ²²⁶Ra concentration activity. Conclusion: The results show that radon leakage correction was calculated with insignificant discrepancy to the certified values and provided improvement to the gamma spectrometry. Therefore, measuring ²²⁶Ra activity concentration in TENORM (technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material) sample using radon leakage correction can be concluded as a convenient and accurate method that can be easily conducted with simple calculation.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.503-509
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• 2011

Specific surface area is becoming a very important factor when newly developed advanced nano-materials are evaluated. But there have been many differences in results when measuring specific surface areas, depending on the measuring equipments and analysis method. To verify the reliability of the specific surface area measurement device supplied within the country, Round Robin Test (RRT) has been done at 21 affiliated research institutes. As a result, it was found that several institute had problems in measuring of gas adsorption amount in measuring equipment, and this proved the need for certified reference material (CRM). Furthermore, it was also found that the results from BET analysis is easily swayed by the analyst's subjectivism, and the calculated results may differ up to 16% in case of CRM I depending on the selection range of BET analysis. So this showed that a standard guideline for BET constant C value and fitting correlation coefficient R is needed, to properly select range in BET analysis. The experience in RRT, distribution of CRM, and standardized procedure would result in improved reliability in industrial processes, and thus, would contribute to the quality management, the productivity improvement, the safety evaluation, and the new material development.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.472-476
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• 2014

In this work, a new method that utilizes L-cysteine salicylaldehyde Schiff-base modified macroporous polystyrene resin (PS-CSC) as an effective sorbent has been developed for preconcentration of trace cadmium and lead in environmental water samples. The effect of pH, the contact time, the elution conditions, the flow rate, the initial concentration of target metal ions, and the effects of interfering ions on the preconcentration of the analytes were investigated. The maximum adsorption capacity of PS-CSC under optimum conditions for cadmium and lead were found to be 6.03 - 18.17 mg/g and 12.58 - 36.13 mg/g when the initial concentration of metal ions between 5.0 - 90 mg/L. The limits of detection for cadmium and lead were 2.46 ng/L and $0.52{\mu}g/L$, with a preconcentration factor of 200. The developed method has been validated by analyzing certified reference material and successfully applied for the enrichment and determination of trace cadmium and lead from environmental water samples.

• International Journal of Knowledge Content Development & Technology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.51-77
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• 2018

This study aimed to determine eco-friendly factors on the aspects of library service, materials provided or handled by the library, and programs including educational programs. Furthermore, it was setup to perform a trial evaluation for the eco-friendliness of the library based on the determined evaluation standards by this study. Results are as follows; First, regarding the question of 'Do employees of the library think that establishment of green libraries is necessary?', the employees of the libraries responded yes by 65.52%, but only 4.6% responded that it would not be necessary. Second, in analyzing the most important evaluation areas of green libraries according to the opinions of the libraries' employees, they were ranked in order: the indoor environment, energy and prevention of environmental pollution, and material and resource areas. Third, 11 areas were determined to evaluate the level of greening in the libraries; the highest averages were scored 510 for the area of energy and prevention of environmental pollution, 415 for the area of library resource, and 320 for the area of indoor environment. Last, the libraries were graded based on actual data according to the results to measure the level of greening, two libraries were graded as Diamond, the highest grade, accounting for 15.39% of all libraries; Gold and Silver grades accounted for another 15.39%, together five Certified graded libraries accounted for 38.46%, which was the highest rate among the libraries. Any library scoring less than 20% when compared to the full score was graded as Non-certified, and one library, which scored 15.06% fell into this category. The results of this study set up to serve as basic data for the direction of development for green libraries in our country, as well as reference for the employees of libraries in constructing or remodeling library buildings, establishing service infrastructure, providing information service, and planning library duties in an eco-friendly way.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.140-144
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• 2018

Isotopic analyses of plutonium and low-enriched uranium mixtures with particle sizes of $0.6-3.3{\mu}m$ were performed using thermal ionization mass spectrometry with a continuous heating method to verify its effectiveness for the accurate analysis of minor isotopes without sample pretreatment. The mixed particles used in this study were prepared from a mixed solution of plutonium (SRM 947) and uranium (U010, $^{235}U$ 1% enriched) reference materials. The isotope ratios for plutonium in the individual mixed particles, including $^{238}Pu/^{239}Pu$, $^{241}Pu/^{239}Pu$ as well as $^{240}Pu/^{239}Pu$, and $^{242}Pu/^{239}Pu$, were in good agreement with the certified values despite the isobaric interference of $^{238}U$ and $^{241}Am$. The isotope ratios for uranium in the mixed particles also agreed well with the certified values within the range of error. However, the isotope ratios for minor isotopes, such as $^{234}U$ and $^{236}U$, in the particles with diameters of less than approximately $1.8{\mu}m$ could not be measured because numbers of $^{234}U$ and $^{236}U$ atoms in analyzed particles are too low. These results indicate that thermal ionization mass spectrometry with a continuous heating method is applicable for the analysis of trace amounts of plutonium isotopes, including $^{238}Pu$ and $^{241}Pu$, despite the presence of the respective isobars $^{238}U$ and $^{241}Am$ in the microsamples.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.240-246
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• 2018

The present study analyzed standard samples of three types of aluminum matrix certified reference materials (CRM) using GD-MS. Calibration curves were constructed for 13 elements (Mg, Si, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Sn, and Pb), with the slope representing the relative sensitivity factor (RSF). The x- and y-axes of the calibration curve represented ion beam ratio (IBR) and the authenticated value of the standard sample, respectively. In order to evaluate precision and linearity of the calibration curve, RSD and the coefficient of determination were calculated. Curve RSD for every element reflected high precision (within 10 %). For most elements, the coefficient of determination was ${\geq}0.99$, indicating excellent linearity. However, vanadium, nickel, and gallium curves exhibited relatively low linearity (0.90~0.95), likely due to their narrow concentration ranges. Standard RSF was calculated using the slope of the curve generated for three types of CRM. Despite vanadium, nickel, and gallium exhibiting low coefficients of determination, their standard RSF resembled that of the three types of CRM. Therefore, the RSF method may be used for element quantitation. Standard iron matrix samples were analyzed to verify the applicability of the aluminum matrix standard RSF, as well as to calculate the RSD-estimated error of the measured value relative to the actual standard value. Six elements (Al, Si, V, Cr, Mn, and Ni) exhibited an RSD of approximately 30 %, while the RSD of Cu was 77 %. In general, Cu isotopes are subject to interference: $^{63}Cu$ to $^{54}Fe^{2+}-^{36}Ar$ and $^{65}Cu$ to $^{56}Fe-Al^{3+}$ interference. Thus, the influence of these impurities may have contributed to the high RSD value observed for Cu. To reliably identify copper, the resolution should be set at ${\geq}8000$. However, high resolutions are inappropriate for analyzing trace elements, as it lowers ion permeability. In conclusion, quantitation of even relatively low amounts of six elements (Al, Si, V, Cr, Mn, and Ni) is possible using this method.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.240-251
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• 2017

1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a), which is used as refrigerant in air conditioners, has been recently regulated as a greenhouse gas and is recommended for reuse by refining. It is very important to quantitatively analyze trace impurities present in the refrigerant to evaluate the criteria for reuse. In this study, trace impurities including C, H, Cl, and F, which are difficult to quantify because there are no reference materials, were quantitatively analyzed by a gas chromatograph-atomic emission detector (GC/AED); for this analysis, this was preceded by a qualitative analysis with a GC-mass selective detector (GC/MSD). In addition, the AED response was investigated using a hydrocarbon mixed reference material, which was proportional to the number of atoms in the component. Fifteen refrigerant components were detected as trace impurities in HFC-134a by qualitative analysis of trace impurities including C, H, Cl, and F in the samples. Based on the results of the qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis of trace impurities using AED showed that the highest mole fractions were for the $CHClF_2$ component ($45438.38{\mu}mol/mol$) in one sample and for the $C_2H_2ClF_3$ component ($1311.47{\mu}mol/mol$) in another sample. From this study, it has been shown that it is possible for this analytical method to be applied to the qualitative and quantitative analysis of trace compounds in refrigerants, which are difficult to quantify because of the absence of reference materials.