• Title/Summary/Keyword: Contaminated ground-water

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Effects of Small Scale Post-Harvest Facility and Hygiene Education on the Level of Microbial Safety in Korean Leeks Production (영양부추 생산농가의 소규모 수확후 처리시설 적용과 위생교육에 따른 미생물학적 안전성 향상 효과)

  • Kim, Se-Ri;Kim, Jin-Bae;Lee, Hyo-Sup;Lee, Eun-Sun;Kim, Won-Il;Ryu, Song-Hee;Ha, Jihyung;Kim, Hwang-Yong;Ryu, Jae-Gee
    • Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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    • v.30 no.3
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    • pp.249-257
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    • 2015
  • The purposes of this study were to develop a small scale post-harvest facility, and consequently to evaluate the effects of applying the facility along with hygiene education on the level of microbial safety in Korean leeks production. A total of 135 samples were collected at three Korean leeks farms in Yangju, Gyeonggi province. Food safety indicators (Aerobic plate count (APC), coliform count, and Escherichia coli) and foodborne pathogens (E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Bacillus cereus) on/in the samples were assessed. The microbial load measured as APC with harvesting tools such as comb, chopping board, and knife, at the farms where the small scale post-harvest facility had been operated (Farms A and B) was lower than that at another farm having no post-harvest facility (Farm C) by 1.44~2.33 log CFU / $100cm^2$. Moreover, the chopping board from Farm C was observed being contaminated with B. cereus at 6.03 log CFU / $100cm^2$. The coliform counts from the samples increased by 0.57~1.89 log CFU/g after leeks was submerged in ground water for washing. E. coli was recovered from leeks, soil, and the ground water used in the washing process, while no E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and L. monocytogenes was detected. Our results indicated that the small scale post-harvest facility developed in this study as well as the hygiene education played an important role in enhancing the level of microbial food safety in the leeks production environment. However, a disinfection technique could be needed during the washing step in order to prevent a potential contamination.

Assessment of Soil and Groundwater Contamination at Two Animal Carcass Disposal Sites (가축 사체 매몰지 주변 토양 및 지하수의 오염도 평가)

  • Kim, Kye-Hoon;Kim, Kwon-Rae;Kim, Hyuck-Soo;Lee, Goon-Taek;Lee, Keun-Hwa
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.43 no.3
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    • pp.384-389
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    • 2010
  • Outbreak of contagious diseases to livestock animals is becoming prevalent worldwide and consequently, tremendous numbers of the infected or culled stocks are buried on the ground as the most common disposal method. The buried animals can generate a wide range of detrimental components such as leachate, nutrient salts, and pathogenic bacteria, consequently contaminating the surround environment. This implies that regular investigations are required to monitor any possible detrimental environmental aspect occurred around burial sites. Therefore, the current study was conducted to investigate whether the soil and groundwater nearby the burial sites had been contaminated by the substances originated from the burial sites, which can be applied for the establishment of the ideal burial site construction design and post management scheme. For this, two different burial sites located in Cheonan and Pyeongtaek were selected. Cheonan and Pyeongtaek sites were constructed in 2004 and 2008, respectively and both contained dead poultry infected by avian influenza (AI). Soil and groundwater samples were collected around the sites followed by determination of the nutrient concentrations and bacteria (Salmonella, Camphylobacter, and Bacillus) existence in both soil and groundwater. Some of the soil samples showed higher EC, $NH_4$-N, $NO_3$-N concentration compared to those of the background (control) soils. Also the concentration of $NH_4$-N in some of the groundwater samples appeared to exceed the USEPA guideline value for drinking water (10 mg $L^{-1}$). These results indicated that the soil and groundwater were influenced by the burial site originated nutrients. In the soil, Bacillus was isolated in most soil samples while there were no detections of Salmonella and Camplylobacter. Due to the Bacillus existing mainly as a spore in the soils, it was considered that the frequent detection of Bacillus in the soil samples was attributed to the nutrients originated from the burial sites.

Fungal Occurrence in Fresh and Dried Red Pepper (건고추 생산단계 중 고추의 곰팡이 발생)

  • Kim, Sosoo;Baek, Seul Gi;Hwang, Injun;Kim, Se-Ri;Jung, Gyusuck;Roh, Eunjung;Jang, Ja Yeong;Kim, Jeomsoon;Lee, Theresa
    • Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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    • v.34 no.6
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    • pp.571-575
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    • 2019
  • Fungal occurrence during production of dried red pepper was investigated using red pepper samples collected at harvest, before and after washing, and before, during or after drying. Fungal incidence was evaluated by counting the number of fungal colonies grown after incubating random pepper cuts on potato dextrose agar plates. Washing with ground water had no significant effect on reduction of fungal contamination. Fungal increase was observed in some samples, and the insides of washer and containers were contaminated with fungi. Drying caused significant fungal increase regardless of drying method although the fungal incidence after machine drying was lower than that after greenhouse drying. Fungal increase was observed in the samples being dried in a greenhouse and some mycotoxigenic species were also detected. Therefore, the most important control point for fungal contamination during dried pepper production appears to be the drying process, especially in a greenhouse.

DC Resistivity method to image the underground structure beneath river or lake bottom (하저 지반특성 규명을 위한 전기비저항 탐사)

  • Kim Jung-Ho;Yi Myeong-Jong;Song Yoonho;Cho Seong-Jun;Lee Seong-Kon;Son Jeongsul
    • 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2002.09a
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    • pp.139-162
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    • 2002
  • Since weak zones or geological lineaments are likely to be eroded, weak zones may develop beneath rivers, and a careful evaluation of ground condition is important to construct structures passing through a river. Dc resistivity surveys, however, have seldomly applied to the investigation of water-covered area, possibly because of difficulties in data aquisition and interpretation. The data aquisition having high quality may be the most important factor, and is more difficult than that in land survey, due to the water layer overlying the underground structure to be imaged. Through the numerical modeling and the analysis of case histories, we studied the method of resistivity survey at the water-covered area, starting from the characteristics of measured data, via data acquisition method, to the interpretation method. We unfolded our discussion according to the installed locations of electrodes, ie., floating them on the water surface, and installing at the water bottom, since the methods of data acquisition and interpretation vary depending on the electrode location. Through this study, we could confirm that the dc resistivity method can provide the fairly reasonable subsurface images. It was also shown that installing electrodes at the water bottom can give the subsurface image with much higher resolution than floating them on the water surface. Since the data acquired at the water-covered area have much lower sensitivity to the underground structure than those at the land, and can be contaminated by the higher noise, such as streaming potential, it would be very important to select the acquisition method and electrode array being able to provide the higher signal-to-noise ratio data as well as the high resolving power. The method installing electrodes at the water bottom is suitable to the detailed survey because of much higher resolving power, whereas the method floating them, especially streamer dc resistivity survey, is to the reconnaissance survey owing of very high speed of field work.

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Human Risk Assessment of Toxic Heavy Metals Around Abandoned Metal Mine Sites (금속광산지역 독성 중금속원소들의 인체 위해성 평가)

  • 이진수;전효택
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.37 no.1
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    • pp.73-86
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    • 2004
  • In order to estimate the post-ingestion bioavailability of heavy metals and to assess the risk of adverse health effects on human exposure to toxic heavy metals, environmental geochemical surveys were undertaken around the Dogok Au-Ag-Cu and the Hwacheon Au-Ag-Pb-Zn mine sites. Human risk assessment of toxic heavy metals was performed with the results of the SBET(simple bioavailability extraction test) analysis for soil and chemical analytical data for crop plant and water. Arsenic and other heavy metals were highly elevated in tailings from the Dogok(218 As mg/kg, 90.2 Cd mg/kg, 3,053 Cu mg/kg, 9,473 Pb mg/kg, 14,500 Zn mg/kg) and the Hwacheon(72 As mg/kg, 12.4 Cd mg/kg. 578 Pb mg/kg, 1,304 Zn mg/kg) mines. These significant concentrations can impact on soils and waters around the tailing dumps. The quantities of As, Cd and Zn extracted from paddy soils in the Hwacheon mine using the SBET analysis were 55.4%, 20.8% and 26.4% bioavailability, respectively, and for farmland soils in the Dogok mine, 40.8%, 37.6% and 33.0% bioavailability, respectively. From the results of human risk assessment, HI(Hazard Index) value exceeded 1.0 for As in the Hwacheon mine and for Cd in the Dogok mine. Thus, toxic risks for As and Cd exist via exposure(ingestion) of contaminated soil, water and rice grain in these mine sites. The cancer risk for As by the consumption of rice and groundwater in the Hwacheon mine area was 8E-4 and 1E-4, respectively. This risk level exceeds the acceptable risk(1 in 100,000) for regulatory purpose. Therefore, regular ingestion of locally grown rice and ground-water by the local population can pose a potential health threat due to long-term arsenic exposure.

Effects of Eggshell Powder on Clubroot Disease Control and the Growth of Chinese Cabbage (달걀껍질이 배추의 생육과 무사마귀병 발병억제에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Byeong-Kwan;Lim, Tae-Heon;Kim, Youn-Hee;Park, Seok-Hwan;Lee, Sang-Hwa;Cha, Byeong-Jin
    • Research in Plant Disease
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    • v.14 no.3
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    • pp.193-200
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    • 2008
  • Blending of eggshell powder into soil as ratio of 1:5, 1:10, 1:15, 1:20, and 1:25 did not affect seed germination rates of several crops including Chinese cabbage. The blending increased pH of distilled water and decreased the viability of resting spores of Plasmodiophora hrassicae. The ratio of non-viable resting spores in eggshell-blending water was over five times higher than in distilled water of the same pH. Chinese cabbage (cv. 'Norangbom') grew more in eggshell-blended soil than in non-treated soil, but other crops grew less. Leaf numbers and above ground growth of Norangbom increased to around 150% and 470%, respectively, in soil blended with $1:20{\sim}1:15$ of eggshell powder. Even though the optimum sizes of eggshell powder were $0.8{\sim}2.0mm$ for growth and smaller than 0.4 mm for inhibition of clubroot disease of Chinese cabbage, there was no statistical difference among the sizes. Soil pH was above 8.0 in all eggshell treatments without any statistical difference among them. Eggshell powder blending to 1:20 showed lower control efficacy, 58.5%, than registered fungicide 'Hokanna (flusulfamide)', 78.5%. However, Chinese cabbage of that blending ratio recorded the highest growth among the treatments. Therefore, blending of eggshell powder into clubroot-contaminated soil may make culture of Chinese cabbage possible by growth-increasing, even though eggshell powder could not inhibit clubroot disease entirely.

A Study on Teaching-Learning and Evaluation Methods of Environmental Studies in the Middle School (중학교 "환경" 교과의 교수.학습 및 평가 방법 연구)

  • 남상준
    • Hwankyungkyoyuk
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.1-17
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    • 1994
  • This study was performed to determine appropriate teaching-learning and evaluation methods for Environmental Studies. To promote the relevance of our study to the needs of the schools and concerned educational communities of environmental education, we reviewed related literature, conducted questionnaire surveys, interviewed related teachers and administrator, held meetings with experts, and field-tested our findings. For selecting and developing teaching-learning methods of Environmental Studies, findings of educational research in general are considered. moreover, principles of environmental education, general aim of environmental education, orientations of environmental education, and developmental stages of middle school students in educational psychology were attended. In addition, relevance to the purpose of the Environmental Studies curriculum, appropriateness for value inquiry as well as knowledge inquiry, small group centered class organization, social interaction centered teaching-learning process, regional environmental situation, significance of personal environment, evaluation methods of Environmental Studies, multi- and inter-disciplinary contents of the Environmental Studies textbook, suitability to the evaluation methods of Environmental Studies, and emphasis on the social interaction in teaching-learning process were regarded. It was learned the Environmental Studies can be taught most effectively in via of holding discussion sessions, conducting actual investigation, doing experiment-practice, doing games and plate, role-playing and carrying out simulation activities, and doing inquiry. These teaching-learning methods were field-tested and proved appropriate methods for the subject. For selecting and developing evaluation method of Environmental Studies, such principles and characteristics of Environmental Studies as objective domains stated in the Environmental Studies curriculum, diversity of teaching-learning organization, were appreciated. We categorized nine evaluation methods: the teacher may conduct questionnaire surveys, testings, interviews, non-participatory observations; they may evaluate student's experiment-practice performances, reports preparation ability, ability to establish a research project, the teacher may ask the students to conduct a self-evaluation, or reciprocal evaluation. To maximize the effect of these methods, we further developed an application system. It considered three variables, that is, evaluates, evaluation objectives domains, and evaluation agent, and showed how to choose the most appropriate methods and, when necessary, how to combine uses of different methods depending on these variables. A sample evaluation instrument made on the basis of this application system was developed and tested in the classes. The system proved effective. Pilot applications of the teaching-learning methods and evaluation method were made simultaneously; and the results and their implications are as follows. Discussion program was applied in a lesson dealing with the problems of waste disposal, in which students showed active participation and creative thinking. The evaluation method used in this lesson was a multiple-choice written test for knowledge and skills. It was shown that this evaluation method and device are effective in helping students' revision of the lesson and in stimulating their creative interpretations and responces. Pupils showed great interests in the actual investigation program, and this programme was proved to be effective in enhancing students' participation. However, it was also turned out that there must be pre-arranged plans for the objects, contents and procedures of survey if this program is to effective. In this lesson, non-participatory observation methods were used with a focus on the attitudes of students. A scaled reported in general description rather than in grade. Experiment-practice programme was adopted in a lesson for purifying contaminated water and in this lesson, instruction objectives were properly established, the teaching-learning process was clearly specified and students were highly motivated. On the other hand, however, it was difficult to control the class when some groups of students require more times to complete their experiment, and sometimes different results. As regards to evaluation, performance observation test were used for assessing skills and attitudes. If teachers use well-prepared Likert scale, evaluation of all groups within a reasonablely short period of time will be possible. The most effective and successful programme in therms of students' participation and enjoyment, was the 'ah-nah-bah-dah-market' program, which is kind of game of the flea market. For better organized program of this kind, however, are essential, In this program, students appraise their own attitudes and behavior by responding to a written questionnaire. In addition, students were asked to record any anecdotes relating to self-appraisal of changes on one's own attitudes and behaviours. Even after the lesson, students keep recording those changes on letters to herself. Role-playing and simulation game programme was applied to a case of 'NIMBY', in which students should decide where to located a refuse dumping ground. For this kind of programme to e successful, concepts and words used in the script should be appropriate for students' intellectual levels, and students should by adequately introduced into the objective and the procedures of the lessons. Written questionnaire was used to assess individual students' attitudes after the lesson, but in order to acquire information on the changes of students' attitudes and skills, pre-test may have to be made. Doing inquiry programme, in which advantages in which students actually investigated the environmental influence of the areas where school os located, had advantages in developing students' ability to study the environmental problems and to present the results of their studies. For this programme to be more efficient, areas of investigation should be clearly divided and alloted to each group so that repetition or overlap in areas of study and presentation be avoided, and complementary wok between groups bee enhanced. In this programme, teacher assessed students' knowledge and attitudes on the basis of reports prepared by each group. However, there were found some difficults in assessing students' attitudes and behaviours solely on the grounds of written report. Perhaps, using a scaled checklist assessing students' attitudes while their presentation could help to relieve the difficulties.

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Two Cases of Hot Tub Lung in Bodyscrubbers Working in a Public Bath (대중목욕탕 근무 후 발생한 온수 욕조 폐 2예)

  • Bak, Ji Young;Kim, Kwang Sil;Park, I-Nae;Yum, Ho-Kee;Lee, Seung Heon;Lee, Hyun-Kyung;Lee, Young Min;Jung, Hoon;Hur, Jin-Won;Lee, Seong Soon;Lee, Hyuk Pyo;Choi, Soo Jeon;Shin, Eun Ah;Choi, Sang Bong
    • Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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    • v.66 no.1
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    • pp.37-41
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    • 2009
  • Hot tub lung has been described as a pulmonary illness associated with exposure to nontuberculous mycobacteria,mainly hot bathtub water contaminated with Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) and hence the name. Although not entirely clear, its etiology has been thought to involve either an infection or a hypersensitivity pneumonitis secondary to MAC. Herein, we describe 2 female patients (60 and 53 years old) admitted to our hospital with hot tub lung, and both of whom worked in a public bath. Both women were initially admitted following several months of exertional dyspnea and cough. The patients had been working as body-scrubbers in a public bath for several years. Their chest CT scans showed bilateral diffuse ground-glass opacities with multifocal air-trappings and poorly defined centrilobular nodules in both lungs. Pathological findings from lung specimens revealed small non-necrotizing granuloma in the lung parenchyme with relatively normal-looking adjacent alveoli. Discontinuation of working in the public bath led to an improvement in symptoms and radiographic abnormalities, without antimycobacterial therapy.

Assessment of Environmentally Sound Function on the Increasing of Soil Fertility by Korean Organic Farming (한국 토착유기농업의 토양비옥도 증진책에 대한 환경보전적 기능 평가)

  • Sohn, Sang-Mok;Han, Do-Hee
    • Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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    • v.33 no.3
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    • pp.193-204
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    • 2000
  • In order to get some basic data on environmental friendly function by Korean organic farming, the chemical characteristics of soil were determined on 100 farm cultivating site in Paldang watershed area of Great Seoul. The EC and content of $NO_3-N$ and Av. $P_2O_5$ in topsoil(0~30cm) showed $2.30dS\;m^{-1}$, $82mg\;kg^{-1}$, $918mg\;kg^{-1}$ in the soil cultivated chinese cabbage. $2.29dS\;m^{-1}$, $86mg\;kg^{-1}$, $954mg\;kg^{-1}$ in the soil of lettuce, $1.83dS\;m^{-1}$, $66mg\;kg^{-1}$, $1114mg\;kg^{-1}$ in the soil of crown daisy. These salt accumulation(EC) and the high concentration of mineral content in topsoil such as nitrate and phosphate showed the soils of organic farming were contaminated by practice of organic farming for the maintenance strategy of soil fertility. The $NO_3-N$ and Av. $P_2O_5$ in the subsoil(30~60cm) showed $75mg\;kg^{-1}$ and $641mg\;kg^{-1}$, $72mg\;kg^{-1}$ and $466mg\;kg^{-1}$, $42mg\;kg^{-1}$ and $873mg\;kg^{-1}$ in soil cultivated chinese cabbage, lettuce and crown daisy respectively. It indicates eventually the high concentration of nitrate and phosphate in topsoil caused penetration to subsoil, and the high concentration of mineral contents in subsoil indicate the potential risk of leaching of ground water by Korean organic farming. The positive correlation at 1% between EC and $NO_3-N$, $K_2O$, T-C, $P_2O_5$ and T-N show the salt accumulation in the both soil depth of Korean organic farming were caused by minerals such as $NO_3-N$, $K_2O$, T-C, $P_2O_5$ and T-N by overuse of organic fertilizer.

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