• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.146-149
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• 2018

BACKGROUND: Selenium is an essential element for all life forms but can be toxic above certain narrow levels. Prevalent forms of selenium in oxic environment are selenium oxyanions such as selenite and selenate, which may be contaminants in soils and water bodies. Bacterial reduction of more mobile selenium species (selenite or selenate) to less mobile elemental selenium may suggest a benign solution for alleviating toxicity and bioavailability of the selenium species. METHODS AND RESULTS: A facultative anaerobic bacterium, Citrobacter strain SE4-1 was isolated from the contaminated stream sediments and found to effectively reduce selenite to elemental selenium. Aqueous phase of selenite was analyzed by inductively couple plasma spectroscopy and the precipitated sphere-shaped elemental selenium was observed by transmission electron microscopy. CONCLUSION: The bacterial strain SE4-1 isolated in this study suggests a potential role in biogeochemical cycle of selenium by the selenite reduction in the stream environment, and potentials for biotechnological applications to reduceselenium concentrations in selenium-contaminated systems such as wastewater, soil, and groundwater.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.45-51
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• 2005

The sorption/desorption characteristics of phenanthrene on the natural manganese oxide (NMD) were investigated in the presence of phenolic compounds. 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) was effectively oxidized by NMD catalyzed reaction and transformed into humic-like macromolecular compound through inter-or cross-coupling reaction between byproducts. As 4-CP was degraded with time, sorbed amount of phenanthrene on NMD was significantly increased, resulting from the formation of oxidative coupling products. These results imply that NMD can be used for simultaneous treatment of phenolic contaminants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils, sediments, or water. Also, sorbed phenanthrene on NMD in the presence of 4-CP showed high degree of desorption resistance, indicating that sequestration process of phenanthrene was ongoing with time.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.30-36
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• 2003

The effect of humic acid on the simultaneous removal of nitrate and phosphate was investigated in a micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF). At the low molar ratio of cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) to contaminants, the removal of nitrate was lower to 50％ by 100 ppm of humic acid due to the competition for binding on micelles. At the molar ratio higher than 3, however, the removal of nitrate was over 80％. Phosphate was removed over 80% at the molar ratio higher than 1. The CPC and humic acid were rejected over 99 ％ by UF membrane. The flux did not decrease by 100 ppm of humic acid but rather slightly increased since the humic acid adsorbed on the membrane made the membrane more hydrophilic. As a result, humic acid did not diminish the performance of MEUF in the simultaneous removal of nitrate and phosphate.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.57-69
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• 1999

This study investigates the existing theoretical backgrounds for bearing capacity determination according to the plasticity of soils when unsymmetrical surcharge is loaded on polluted soft soils. It also investigates the behavior of the displacement and bearing capacity by unsymmetrical surcharge on the Polluted soft soils. by comparing the analytical results and the actual measurements performed through the model test. Model tests were carried out as follows : soil tank, bearing frame and bearing plate are made for the test ; the water content in soil tank was kept constant while the contaminants in natural soils and polluted material were gradually increased ; unsymmetrical surcharge is increased at regular intervals and then the amounts of settlement, lateral displacement and upheaval are observed. In conclusion, the value of critical surcharge was expressed as $q_{ cr}= 2.78_{Cu}$ which was similar to those $Tschebotarioff(q_{cr}=3.0_{Cu)$ and $Meyerhof(q_{cr}=(B/2H+\pi/2_{Cu})$ had proposed. The value of ultimate capacity was expressed as $q_{ult}=4.84_{Cu}$ which was similar to that of Prandtl.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.47-54
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• 2007

The partitioning tracer method has been studied as an alternative method for detecting and characterizing the distribution of nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) contaminants in subsurface. The reliability of the partitioning tracer method depends on accurate measurements of partition coefficients of the partitioning tracers between water and NAPLs. In this study, partition coefficients of several alcohol tracers between water and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and BTEX mixtures are estimated using the modified approach of equivalent alkane carbon number (EACN). Agreements between the measured and estimated partition coefficients were generally observed in experiments. Based on these results, it is confirmed that the partition coefficients of tracers are readily obtained without experiments if the EACN values for the tracers and LNAPLs are known.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.43-51
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• 2020

About 90% of groundwater wells in Jeju Island are reported to be under the threat of contamination by infiltration of the surface pollutants. Most of those wells have improperly grouted annulus which is an empty space between the well and the inner casing. As a remedy to this problem, some of the wells were re-grouted by filling the annulus with cement without lifting an inner casing. In order to evaluate whether this method is appropriate for the geological structure of Jeju Island, two wells (W1 and W2) were selected and this method was applied. The water holding capacity did not decrease while the nitrate levels decreased from 16.8 and 20.2 to 6.8 and 13.8 mg/L in W1 and W2, respectively. The higher nitrate level in W2 is deemed to be influenced by the livestock farms located in the upper area of the well. In addition, transmissivity of the vedose zone was higher in W2 than W1, potentially facilitating the transport of nitrate to the groundwater. The overall result of this study suggests re-grouting of wells for the purpose of protecting water quality of goundwater should take into account geological structure of vadose zone as well as appropriate source control of the contaminants.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2012

Two typical animal waste management practices, composting and stockpiling, were evaluated for their effect on the degradation of three veterinary antibiotics (VAs), chlortetracycline (CTC), tylosin (TYL), and monensin (MNS). The VAs were applied to horse manure plots subject to composting or stockpiling, and core samples were collected over a period of time. Selected buffer solutions were used to extract the VAs and analysis for concentration was conducted with solid phase extraction (SPE) followed by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS) technique. The VAs demonstrated rapid dissipation within ten days followed by a gradual decrease in concentration until the end of the experimental period (141 days). All three VAs degraded more rapidly in the composting samples than in the stockpiling samples, particularly between 20 and 60 days of the observation period. Degradation of the three VAs generally followed a first-order kinetic model, and a fitted model with a calculated rate constant was determined for each treatment. TYL in composting showed the fastest degradation, with a calculated rate constant of $0.91day^{-1}$; the slowest degradation was exhibited by MNS in stockpiling, with rate constant of $0.17day^{-1}$. Calculated correlation coefficients ranged from 0.89 to 0.96, indicating a strong correlation between measured concentrations and fitted values in this study. Although concentration of TYL in composting treatment showed below detection limit during the test period, this study suggests that composting can reduce animal waste contaminants prior to field application as fertilizer.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.12-20
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• 2003

This study presents a mathematical model for simulating the fate and transport of a reactive organic contaminant, TCE, degraded by cometabolism in dual-porosity soils during the installation of in situ biobarrier. To investigate the effect of dual-porosity on transport and biodegradation of organic hydrocarbons, a bimodal approach was incorporated into the model. Modified Monod kinetics and a microcolony concept were employed to represent the effects of biodegrading microbes on the transport and biodegradation of an organic contaminant. The effect of permeability reduction in biobarrier due to biomass accumulation on the flow field were examined in the simulation of a hypothetical field-scale in situ bioaugmentation. Simulation results indicate that the presence of the immobile region can decrease the bioavailability of biodegradable contaminants and that the placement of microbes and nutrients injection wells should be considered for an effective installation of biobarrier during in situ bioaugmentation scheme.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.192-203
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• 2016

A field investigation was conducted on an aquifer contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) for application of in situ reactive zone treatment using nanosized zero-valent iron (NZVI). The aquifer was an unconfined aquifer with a mean hydraulic conductivity of $5.14{\times}10^{-4}cm/sec$, which would be favorable for NZVI injection. Seasonal monitoring of TCE concentration revealed a presence of non-aqueous phase liquid form of TCE near IW (injection well). The hydrochemical data characterized the site groundwater to be a $Ca-HCO_3$ type. The average value of Langelier Saturation Index of the groundwater was -1.33, which implied that the site was favorable for corrosion of NZVI. Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration varied between 2.5~11.5 mg/L, which indicated that DO would greatly compete with TCE as an electron acceptor. The hydrogeological and hydrochemical characterization reveals that the time around November would be appropriate for NZVI injection when water level and temperature are relatively high and DO concentration is low.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.28
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• pp.13.1-13.5
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• 2013

Objectives: Potential environmental risks caused by chemicals that could be released from a recycled plastic product were assessed using a screening risk assessment procedure for chemicals in recycled products. Methods: Plastic slope protection blocks manufactured from recycled plastics were chosen as model recycled products. Ecological risks caused by four model chemicals - di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb)-were assessed. Two exposure models were built for soil below the block and a hypothetic stream receiving runoff water. Based on the predicted no-effect concentrations for the selected chemicals and exposure scenarios, the allowable leaching rates from and the allowable contents in the recycled plastic blocks were also derived. Results: Environmental risks posed by slope protection blocks were much higher in the soil compartment than in the hypothetic stream. The allowable concentrations in leachate were $1.0{\times}10^{-4}$, $1.2{\times}10^{-5}$, $9.5{\times}10^{-3}$, and $5.3{\times}10^{-3}mg/L$ for DEHP, DINP, Cd, and Pb, respectively. The allowable contents in the recycled products were $5.2{\times}10^{-3}$, $6.0{\times}10^{-4}$, $5.0{\times}10^{-1}$, and $2.7{\times}10^{-1}mg/kg$ for DEHP, DINP, Cd, and Pb, respectively. Conclusions: A systematic ecological risk assessment approach for slope protection blocks would be useful for regulatory decisions for setting the allowable emission rates of chemical contaminants, although the method needs refinement.