• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.217-231
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• 2006

The gas-phase formation of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) was experimentally investigated by slow combustion of the three chlorophenols (CPs): 2-chlorophenol (2-CP), 3-chlorophenol (3-CP) and 4-chlorophenol (4-CP), in a laminar flow reactor over the range of 550 to $750^{\circ}C$ under oxidative condition. Contrary to the a priori hypothesis, different distributions of PCN isomers were produced from each CP. To explain the distributions of polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) and PCN congeners, a pathway is proposed that builds on published mechanisms of PCDF formation from chlorinated phenols and naphthalene formation from dihydrofulvalene. This pathway involves phenoxy radical coupling at unsubstituted ortho-carbon sites followed by CO elimination to produce dichloro-9, 10-dihydrofulvalene intermediates. Naphthalene products are formed by loss of H and/or Cl atoms and rearrangement. The degree of chlorination of naphthalene and dibenzofuran products decreased as temperature increased, and, on average, the naphthalene congeners were less chlorinated than the dibenzofuran congeners. PCDF isomers were found to be weakly dependent to temperature, suggesting that phenoxy radical coupling is a low activation energy process. Different PCN isomers, on the other hand, are formed by alternative fusion routes from the same phenoxy radical coupling intermediate. PCN isomer distributions were found to be more temperature sensitive, with selectivity to particular isomers decreasing with increasing temperature.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.829-838
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• 2005

In order to investigate the residual amounts of organochlorines and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Korean human tissues (blood, adipose tissue, liver, kidney cortex, and lung), the samples were collected from the autopsied cadavers of 40 men and 40 women (from teens to seventies of age). ${\alpha}-BHC,\;{\beta}-BHC,\;{\gamma}-BHC,\;{\delta}-BHC$, p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDE, endrin, dieldein, aldrin, and 7 marker PCBs (28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153, and 180) were determined in human tissues. The levels of organochlorines and PCB congeners indicated that they have been widely distributed in Korean human body. Positive correlations in terms of age were observed for the following cases: p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDT, ${\Sigma}-DDT$, PCB 118, PCB 138, PCB 153, and ${\Sigma}-PCB$ in the adipose tissue, and p,p'-DDE in the lung. Concentration of these compounds showed a significant age-related increase. Accumulation of these compounds in aged people revealed that these compounds were more slowly eliminated in our environment and risk assessment was necessary for further proper action. Significant differences in the levels of PCBs between genders were found for PCB 118 in the adipose tissue and PCB 138 in the liver. Positive correlation coefficients between tissues were detected with p,p'-DDE and ${\beta}-BHC$.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.65-74
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• 2009

Active components of lacquer tree referred to as urushiol congeners, which are catechol derivatives with various alkyl or alkenyl substituents. The olefin side chains typically have one, two or three double bonds. In this study, the each congener's ratio analysis of extracts from korean lacquer tree are compared to the one from other asian lacquer tree. Extraction was performed using liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) method with soxhlet system from tree's bark and sap. Extracts were analyzed by reverse phase liquid chromatography and on-line electro spray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.440-449
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• 2011

Objectives: This study was designed to determine the levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in breast milk and to evaluate the relations with factors affecting these levels. Methods: The congener levels of PBDE in 22 samples of breast milk were analyzed using a high resolution gas chromatograph with a high resolution mass detector. In accordance with our standard operating procedures, the recoveries of internal standards had to range between 68% and 118%. Since the distribution of PBDE concentrations is close to log-normal, the data were logarithmically transformed before analysis. Test subjects were healthy primipara and multipara mothers with a mean age of 32 (SD = 2.7) in 2006. Results: Seven PBDE congeners (BDE-28, 47, 99, 100, 153, 154, and 183) were detected and identified in all of the pooled breast milk samples, indicating widespread contamination from PBDEs in the environment in Korea. Residue levels of total PBDEs (sum PBDEs from tri- to hepta-BDE) ranged from 0.84-13.1 ng/g lipid with median and geometric mean levels of 2.6 ng/g lipid and 2.74 ng/g lipid, respectively. PBDE congeners 47, 99 and 153 markedly predominated and accounted for about 75% of the amount of the PBDE congeners analyzed. BDE-47 was the dominant congener in most samples, whereas BDE-153 was predominant in a few (n = 7/22). BDE-47 was highly correlated with total PBDEs (r = 0.987, p < 0.01). In analyses of the differences of the means of log transformed breast milk PBDE levels for groups of potential covariates, only breast milk BDE-47 and BDE-99 levels were significantly associated with fish (p < 0.05) and meat consumption (p < 0.01). However, we did not find significant correlations between PBDE levels and maternal age, body mass index (BMI), parity, job presence and smoking status. Conclusions: Our findings are mainly limited due to the small sampling size and low doses of PBDEs exposure. Background and human exposure data of PBDEs is lacking, and longitudinal investigations into the environment and biota are encouraged to determine the health impact on future populations in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.203-210
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• 2016

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants, found in the many environments. PCBs exerts various toxicological effects, including endocrine-disrupting activity. Most researches with these toxicants performed with soil matrix with mixtures of congeners, namely Aroclor, while the biological activities have been tested with animals. However, studies with pure congeners are limited. In this study, 5 congeners were synthesized and their fates (bioaccumulation, degradation, kinetics) were studied in carrot-soil system. The soil half-lives of biphenyl, PCB-1, PCB-3, PCB-77, and PCB-126 were 20.2, 16.0, 11.6, 46.5, 198.0 days, respectively. In general, the longer half-lives were observed with the higher hydrophoicity of PCBs. Times, required for maxium accumulation of PCBs in carrot (Tmax) were 10-20 days for most congeners and the concentrations were 0.4-2.6 mg/kg. The concentrations of PCBs in carrot were kept as constant after Tmax, except PCB-126. The concentration ratio between carrot and soil after 90 days of treatment were 1.7, 8.1, 1.9, 1.8, and 5.9 for biphenyl, PCB-1, PCB-3, PCB-77, and PCB-126. Because of the increase of biomass, the total residual amount of PCBs in carrots however, increased till the end of experiment. The portions of PCB-126 in carrot were 1.1% of the soil residues at 90 days after planting.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.829-835
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• 2006

The composition, source, and regional concentration of polybrominated diphenyl ethers(PBDEs) were measured in pine needles with several sites in Korea. Homologs specific analysis confirmed that hepta-BDE(bromodiphenyl ethers) through deca-BDE were predictive indicator for total PBDEs concentration(Pearson's correlation coefficient r>0.96, p<0.001). Deca-BDE were detected in relatively very high concentration compared to other PBDE congeners in all samples. The similarity of between congeners profile to those of Bromkal 70-5DE and DE-71, the commercial mixture of PBDEs, indicates these mixtures are source of PBDEs observed in these sites. Also, BDE-47, -99, -100, -206, -207, and -209 were the dominant congeners in all samples, suggesting that the widely used commercial penta- and deca-BDE technical mixture were the original sources. However, Pearson's correlation coefficients of between BDE-209 and BDE-47, -99, -100 were insignificant, which implied that tetra-BDE and penta-BDE may originate from secondary sources such as air-plant partition in manner similar to that of the PCBs, while deca-BDE formulation still has primary sources.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.232-240
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• 2005

The total PCBs level in the transformer insulation oil samples using GC/ECD and HRGC/HRMS were ranged from 0.087 to $223.6{\mu}g/g$ and ranged from N.D. to $154.04{\mu}g/g$, respectively. The calculated TEQ values were ranged from 0.00067 to 6.8 ng WHO-TEQ/g. Among the samples, 6 samples showed higher than 2 ppm concentration (specific waste criterion of Korea). A variety in the concentration of total PCBs were observed between ECD and HRMS analysis. This is maybe due to quantification mehtod. The Aroclor 1248 wasn't present in the samples. The distribution pattern of Co-PCB congeners showed that the ratio of monoortho substituted congeners were higher than non-ortho substituted congeners. Among that, PCB-167 congener was predominant. In addition, the distribution of Co-PCBs congeners was different with that of flue gas and ambient air samples as well as commercial PCB formulations (Aroclor, Kanechlor).

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.102-107
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• 2007

Environmental contamination becomes a great public concern as our society gets industrialized rapidly. The present study examine the role of chitosan in a effort to intervene the environmental pollutant-induced toxicity. PCB-induced neurotoxicity with respect to the PKC signaling was examined. Since the developing neuron is particularly sensitive to PCB-induced neurotoxicity, we isolated cerebellar granule cells derived from 7-day old SD rats and grew cells in culture for additional 7 days to mimic PND-14 conditions. PCB showed the alteration of PKC signaling pathway. The alteration was structure-dependent. Mono-ortho-substituted congeners at a high dose showed a significant increase of total PKC activity at [$^3H$]PDBu binding assay, indicating that mono-ortho-substituted congeners are more neuroactive than non-ortho-substituted congeners in neuronal cells. PKC isoforms were immunoblotted with respective monoclonal antibodies. PKC-beta II and -epsilon were activated with mono-ortho-substituted congeners exposure. The result suggests that the position with ortho has a higher potential of altering the signaling pathway. Alteration of PKC was blocked with treatment of high molecular weight of chitosan. The study demonstrated that the ortho position in PCBs are important in assessing the structure-activity relationship. The results suggest a potential use of marine bioactive materials as a means of nutritional intervention to prevent the harmful effects of pollutant-derived toxicity.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.7
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• pp.899-904
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• 2009

We purified crude urushiol from natural lacquer produced in Korea, China, and Japan and then isolated several urushiol congeners known to induce allergic reactions. The 3 major kinds of urushiol congeners that were isolated and purified were RV-l (C$_{21}$H$_{34}$O$_2$, M.W. 314.462), RV-2 ((C$_{21}$H$_{32}$O$_2$, M.W. 316.240) and RV-3 ((C$_{23}$H$_{34}$O$_2$, M.W. 342.515), occupying 80% of total crude urushiol. The content of RV-l was the highest in natural lacquer from China at 70.07%, and was the lowest in that from Japan at 62.38%. However, the content of RV-2 in natural lacquer from Japan was 9.25%, 2$\sim$3 times higher than those from Korea (4.28%) and China (3.09%). As an allergy inducing character, RV-l had strong inducing power and durability in the primary stage, showing slow recovery. RV-2 had weak power in the primary stage and also showed slow recovery. Although RV-3 had comparatively weak power at the primary stage, it induced the strongest allergy contact dermatitis after 48 hr. However, it recovered to nearly the same level as control group 72 hr after sensitization time. Accordingly, we found out that RV-1 is the most influential of urushiol congeners in inducing allergic reactions, natural lacquer from China having the most inducible strength and slowest recovery compared to those from Korea and Japan.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Entomolohy Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.110-110
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• 2002