• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.112-117
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• 2010

Altered mRNA expression of two metallothionein isoforms (MT-IA and MT-IB) in response to acute heavy metal exposure was examined in mud loach, Misgurnus mizolepis, fry using a real-time RTPCR assay. Sublethal exposure (1 or 5 ${\mu}M$) to Cd, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn resulted in highly variable transcriptional responses of the two MT isoforms to the heavy metal ions, including upregulation, a steady state, and downregulation. Overall, the most potent inducer of both MT isoforms was Cd (up to 6-fold). Another exposure experiment using a series of doses of Cu revealed that the stimulation patterns of the two MT isoforms differed: MT-IA transcription was soon saturated at higher concentrations (about 2-fold at 1-4 ${\mu}M$ of Cu), whereas the activation of MT-IB was more dependent on the treatment dose (increased up to 5-fold at 3 ${\mu}M$). The isoform-specific allotment of constitutive and inducible functions was not as clear in fry as in adult tissues. Coordinated interaction between the MT-IA and MT-IB isoforms was hypothesized based on the finding that MT-IA represented a primary action under 'less stressful' or 'sublethal' conditions, whereas the activation of MT-IB became important under 'more stressful' or 'lethal' circumstances in this species.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.370-378
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• 2005

The characteristics of heavy metal biosorption on the seaweeds were investigated to develop a biological treatment technology for wastewater polluted with heavy metals. The heavy metal biosorption on seaweeds ranked in the tallowing order: U. pinnatifida$\geq$E. stolonifera$\geq$Laminaria sp.>G. amansii. The Pb was biosorbed in the range of $93{\sim}99%$, and the Cu and Cd were biosorbed in the range of $70{\sim}80%$ at the concentration of the heavy metal of $100mg/{\ell}$ respectively. The seaweed which was pretreated with $CaCl_2$ solution improved the biosorption of the heavy metals. The temperature and pH didn't affect the biosorption of heavy metals. The Langmuir isotherm reasonably fit the data of heavy metal biosorption compared to the Freundlich isotherm. The affinity of metals on the biosorption ranked in the following order: Pb>Zn>Cu>Cd. The biosorption efficiency of the heavy metals on the U. pinnatifida decreased in the multi-component rather than the single component. The heavy metals adsorbed on the U. pinnatifida were recovered using 0.3%-NTA. U. pinnatifida among the seaweed used in this work showed the best performance for the biosorption of the heavy metals.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.114-118
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• 2015

In this study, we have developed a microbe-carrier that combined Desulfovibrio desulfuricans and zeolite for removal of Zn and As in contaminated seawater. Desulfovibrio desulfuricans, one of the sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) microorganism was exhibited stable growth characteristics in highly salted water and strong resistance to Zn and As contaminated seawater. Moreover, zeolites are one of the most useful carrier to remove heavy metals from wastewaters. The results showed that SRB immobilized zeolite carrier can enhance removal ratio of Zn and As. In addition, heavy metals tended to be better removed in medium at conditions of $37^{\circ}C$. In case of heavy metal concentration, they were effectively removed ranging from 50 to 100 ppm. These results show that SRB-zeolite carriers hold great potential to remove cationic heavy metal species from industrial wastewater in marine environment.

• Korean Journal of Weed Science
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2010

Field study to find appropriate species for phytoremediation and phytomonitoring with higher plants was carried out at four abandoned metalliferous mines. In order to know the tolerant degree of plant resources collected at heavy metal polluted sites, soil and plants were sampled at same sites and metal concentrations were determined. Most serious heavy metal polluted in the sites was As that showed range from 29.1 to 1372.2 mg $kg^{-1}$ in investigated area. The dominant species were Oenothera biennis, Commelina communis, Persicaria senticosa, Conyza annuus, Artemisia princeps, and Erigeron canadensis. These species were predominant species that were proliferated in any survey area. Compared with other sites, vegetational characteristics of Dal-Seong, a mine site abandoned early in 1973, showed higher diversity index and lower dominance index. Distributions of weed species according to life cycle indicated that the proportions of perennial plants were lowered in every investigated site. Although the polluted areas were distant from each other, similarity indices among these vegetation were relatively similar. These results means the vegetations of abandoned mine areas were beginning stage of vegetational succession, and the vegetations were adversely affected by disturbance with heavy-metals and lack of water in soil.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.291-295
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• 2002

We measured the concentrations of heavy metals and VOCs in groundwaters (N=38) in Seoul. The comparison of our data with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Maximum Contaminant Levels for Drinking Water and with the Korean Drinking Water Standards shows that most of the metals except for Fe and Mn do not exceed the levels. However, the concentrations of most heavy metals (esp., Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni) tend to increase in residential and industrialized areas. The examination of the metal speciation using Anodic Stripping Voltammetry (ASV) and TOC analyzer Indicates that large amounts of Zn occur as labile metal fraction, whereas Cu occurs as non- labile forms at many sites, possibly due to its tendency to be adsorbed onto inorganic colloidal particles to form electroinactive species in groundwater. The most frequently existed VOCs in Seoul groundwaters are trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, especially in agricultural, industrial, and high traffic areas.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.295.1-295.1
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• 2002

Metallothioneins (MTs) are a go up of heavy metal-binding proteins characterized by cystein-rich low molecular weight(6000 - 10.000 Da). They plays a major role in the detoxification of heavy metals and also in scavenging of superoxide radicals. They are known to be induced by heavy metals in various organs of different species and represent a potential biomarker of aquatic heavy metal contamination. (omitted)

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.64-69
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• 2002

To know a degree of pollution in agricultural products cultivated around 4 unworked mines located in Chollanam-Do, we investigated a concentration of heavy metal and trace metal to provide the basic data for its residual limits. 28 samples of seven kinds of agricultural products(lettuce, onion, potato, radish, pepper, pumpkin, bean) collected from 4 unworked mines located in Chollanam-Do in 2001 were analyzed by Mercury Analyzer for mercury and Atomic Absorption spectrophotometer for Pb, As, Cd, Cu, Mn, and Zn. Hg contents were detected N.D. ∼trace level(0.01 ppm and less) and As content were detected N.D. ∼ 0.029 lpm but most of same)leE were not detected. Cd contents were detected N.D∼0.124 ppm. The results of Hg, As, Pb and Cd content showed that for all the 7 species of agricultural products studied, none have accumulated levels dangerous enough to Pose health problems. The average contents of Cu were 3.070 ∼ 7.825 ppm in bean, the Mn were 3.688 ∼23.935 ppm in lettuce ailed the Zn were 5.690 ∼21.171 ppm in bean, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.93-99
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• 2001

There are several ways to remove and treat toxic heavy metals in the environment: chemical, physical and biological ways. The biological treatment utilizes the natural reactions of microorganisms living in the environments. These reactions include biosorption and bioaccumulation, oxidation and reduction, methylation and demethylation, metal - organic complexation and insoluble complex formation. The biological reactions provide a crucial key technology in the remediation of heavy metal-contaminated soils and waters. According to recent reports, various kinds of heavy metal species were removed by microorganisms and the new approaches and removal conditions to remediate the metals were also tried and reported elsewhere. This was mostly carried out by microorganisms such as fungi, bacteria and alga. In addition, a recent development of molecular biology shed light on the enhancing the microorganism's natural remediation capability as well as improving the current biological treatment.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.556-562
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• 2017

Heavy metals in water systems are being managed on the concentration-based guidelines in Korea. However, various chemicals present in water can interact with heavy metals affecting their toxicity. Such interactions are not considered in the concentration-based guidelines. This study investigated the effect of hardness and coexisting heavy metals on heavy metal toxicity to emphasize the importance of having the effect-based guidelines together with the concentration-based guidelines in water management. The toxic effects of Cd, Zn, or mixtures of Cd and Zn were studied with Daphnia magna as a test species following the standard test method at different hardness conditions (100, 200, and $300mg\;L^{-1}$ as $CaCO_3$). The toxicities of single metal solutions and mixtures showed a decreasing trend with increasing hardness, and this can be attributed to the competition between heavy metals and cations such as calcium ions ($Ca^{2+}$) that cause hardness. The predicted toxicities of the heavy metal mixtures from the single metal toxicity deviated from the measured toxicities, and the predicted toxic effects tend to be greater than the measured toxic effects suggesting that Cd and Zn are in competition. This shows the limitations of using predicted toxic effects and the needs for further studies on mixture toxicities. Overall, this study shows that the management of heavy metals in waters needs to employ the effect-based guidelines together with the concentration-based guidelines.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.119-132
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• 2013

Hosta longipes is one of the most popular ornamental perennials in use in Korea today, and is mainly used as a groundcover plant in urban shaded places. In this study, the pytoremediation effect of Hosta longipes was tested using four concentrations (Control, 100, 250 and $500mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$) of Cd, Pb and Zn in soil. The plants were planted in $300mm{\times}200mm{\times}250mm$ drainless-containers, which were filled with a artificial amended soil for 7 months. The results showed that the contents of heavy metals cadmium and lead in the shoot of Hosta longipes increased with increasing heavy metal concentration levels exception of zinc. The amount of zinc, cadmium, and lead accumulated in roots were increased with heavy metal concentration levels up in soil. The shoot/root ratios(TF; translocation factor) values were found to be more than 80% of total Zn, Cd, and Pb take up by Hosta longipes. These results indicated that root is the major part for accumulation of heavy metal. The removal contents of zinc, cadmium, and lead increased significantly with the increasing heavy metal concentration in the soil, which was planted with Hosta longipes. The heavy metal concentration accumulation in plant/soil ratios (BF; bioaccumulation factor) values for three metals were found to be more than 30% in cadmium and lead, but lower in zinc treatments. The different responses of Hosta longipes suggest that in heavy metal contaminated soils the plant adsorbs available metals depending on the concentration soils in which they are present. Therefore, this species can be an efficient phytoremediator for soils contaminated with cadmium and lead in urban shaded places.