• 월간산업보건
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• s.356
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• pp.16-25
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• 2017

Chromium exists at various valences, including elemental, trivalent, and hexavalent chromium, and undergoes reduction-oxidation reactions in the environment. Since hexavalent chromium is known as a human carcinogen, it is most important to evaluate the oxidationreduction characteristics of the hexavalent chromium species. Although hexavalent chromium can be reduced to trivalent state, the detailed information on this in workplace environments is limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate hexavalent chromium reduction in time in various conditions. A pilot chrome plating operation was prepared and operated in a laboratory for this study. There was evidence that the hexavalent chromium was reduced by time after mist generation. The percentage ratio (with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses) of hexavalent chromium to total chromium was almost 100% (99.1 ; 102.3) immediately after mist generation, and was reduced to 87.4% (84.8 ; 89.9) at 1 hour and 81.0% (78.3 ; 83.5) at 2 hours, respectively. Another test indicated that hexavalent chromium collected on PVC filters was also reduced by time after sampling. Hexavalent chromium was reduced to 90.8% (88.2 ; 93.3) at 2 hours after sampling. It also was found that hexavalent chromium was reduced during storage in air. It is recommended that air samples of hexavalent chromium be protected against reduction during storage.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.336-342
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• 2010

In a pot experiment, we studied the effect of nitrification inhibition on Fe reduction and P release in paddy soil and growth and nutrient uptake of rice plant. Recommended level of fertilizers, 6 kg N, 5 kg $P_2O_5$ and 4 kg $K_2O$ per 10a, were applied, and for N fertilizer urea, urea+N-serve, and $KNO_3$ were included. Four 30-day-old seedlings were transplanted in a waterlogged 9 L pot filled with Yuga series soil, and 3 pots were prepared in each N fertilizer treatment. Changes of soil redox potential and concentration of ${NH_4}^-$, ${NO_3}^-$, $Fe^{2+}$ and ${PO_4}^{3-}$ in soil solution at 10 cm depth were monitored, and also the growth and nutrient uptake of rice plants were measured. Concentration of ${NH_4}^+$ in soil solution was highest in urea+N-serve treatment, and followed by urea and $KNO_3$ treatments. Addition of N-serve could effectively inhibit nitrification in the soil. In the treatment of $KNO_3$, relatively higher ${NO_3}^-$ concentration was found at 10 cm depth soil. In urea+N-serve treatment redox potential was lower than -100 mV during the experiment, but in the treatment of $KNO_3$ the potential was maintained above 0 mV until ${NO_3}^-$ remaining in soil solution. Reduction of Fe(III) and solubilization of P were highly correlated with redox potential changes in the three N fertilizer treatments. Concentrations of Fe(II) and ${PO_4}^{3-}$ in soil solution at 10 cm depth were much higher in the urea+N-serve treatment. The most vigorous rice seedling growth was found in the urea treatment. Although the availability of N and P in soil was enhanced in the urea+N-serve treatment through the suppression of nitrification, excessive solubilization of Fe could limit the growth of rice plants.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.737-760
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• 2022

For the geological disposal of high-level radioactive wastes (HLW), an understanding of deep subsurface environment is essential through geological, hydrogeological, geochemical, and geotechnical investigations. Although South Korea plans the geological disposal of HLW, only a few studies have been conducted for characterizing the geochemistry of deep subsurface environment. To guide the hydrogeochemical research for selecting suitable repository sites, this study overviewed the status and trends in hydrogeochemical characterization of deep groundwater for the deep geological disposal of HLW in developed countries. As a result of examining the selection process of geological disposal sites in 8 countries including USA, Canada, Finland, Sweden, France, Japan, Germany, and Switzerland, the following geochemical parameters were needed for the geochemical characterization of deep subsurface environment: major and minor elements and isotopes (e.g., ³⁴S and ¹⁸O of SO₄^2-, ¹³C and ¹⁴C of DIC, ²H and ¹⁸O of water) of both groundwater and pore water (in aquitard), fracture-filling minerals, organic materials, colloids, and oxidation-reduction indicators (e.g., Eh, Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺, H₂S/SO₄^2-, NH₄⁺/NO₃^-). A suitable repository was selected based on the integrated interpretation of these geochemical data from deep subsurface. In South Korea, hydrochemical types and evolutionary patterns of deep groundwater were identified using artificial neural networks (e.g., Self-Organizing Map), and the impact of shallow groundwater mixing was evaluated based on multivariate statistics (e.g., M3 modeling). The relationship between fracture-filling minerals and groundwater chemistry also has been investigated through a reaction-path modeling. However, these previous studies in South Korea had been conducted without some important geochemical data including isotopes, oxidationreduction indicators and DOC, mainly due to the lack of available data. Therefore, a detailed geochemical investigation is required over the country to collect these hydrochemical data to select a geological disposal site based on scientific evidence.