• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.355-361
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• 2019

Background: Painters in the automotive sector are routinely exposed to volatile organic solvents, and the levels vary depending on the occupational health and safety controls enforced at the companies. This study investigates the levels of exposure to organic vapors and the existence of controls in the formal economy sector in southern Colombia. Methods: This is an exploratory study of an observational and descriptive character. An analysis of solvents is conducted via the personal sampling of painters and the analysis of samples using the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 1501 method. The amount of solvents analyzed varied according to the budget allocated by the companies. The person in charge of the occupational safety and health management system was interviewed to learn about the exposure controls implemented at the companies. Results: A medium exposure risk for toluene was found in one company. Another presented medium risk for carbon tetrachloride, xylene, ethylbenzene, and n-butanol. The others showed low risk of exposure and that the controls implemented were not sufficient or efficient. Conclusion: These results shed light on the working conditions of these tradespeople. The permissible limits established by Colombian regulations for the evaluated chemical contaminants were not exceeded. However, there were contaminants that exceeded the limits of action. The analysis of findings made it possible to propose improvements in occupational safety and health management systems to allow the optimization of working conditions for painters, prevent the occurrence of occupational diseases, and reduce costs to the country's health system.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.647-661
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• 2003

For continuous monitoring of atmospheric visibility in the city of Kwanaju, Korea, a transmissometer system consisting of a transmitter and a receiver was installed at a distance of 1.91 km across the downtown Kwanaju. At the transmitter site an integrating nephelometer and an aethalometer were also installed to measure the scattering and absorption coefficients of the atmosphere, respectively. At the receiver site. an URG PM$_{2.5}$ cyclone sampler and an URG-VAPS (Versatile Air Pollutant Sampler) with three filter packs and two denuders were used to collect both PM$_{2.5}$ and PM$_{10}$ samples at a 2-hour or 12-hour sampling interval for aerosol chemical analysis. Sulfate, organic mass by carbon (OMC), nitrate, elemental carbon (EC) components of fine aerosol were the major contributors to visibility impairment. Diurnal variation of visibility during best-case days showed rapid improvement in the morning hours, while it was delayed until afternoon during the worst-case days. Aerosol mass concentration of each aerosol component for the worst-case was calculated to be 11.2 times larger than the best-case for (NH$_4$)$_2$SO$_4$(NHSO), 19.0 times for NH$_4$NO$_3$ (NHNO), 2.2 times for OMC, respectively. Also result shows that elemental carbon and fine soil (FS) were 3.7 and 2.2 times more than those of best-case. respectively- Sum of total contributions of wet NHSO and NHNO to light extinction was calculated to be 301 Mm$^{-1}$ for the worst-case. However, sum of contributions by dry NHSO and NHNO was calculated to be 123 Mm$^{-1}$ for the best case. Mass extinction efficiencies of fine and coarse particles were calculated to be 5.8$\pm$0.3 $m^2$/g and 1.8$\pm$0.1 $m^2$/g, respectively.ely.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.39 no.1 s.115
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• pp.85-92
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• 2006

To evaluate the primary production and nutrient uptake of macrophytes in Lake Paldang, this study investigate the vegetation areas of six dominant aquatic plants including Typha angustifolia, Zizania latifolia, Phragmites australis, Trapa japonica, Nelumbo nucifera and Savinia natans, and contents of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus of each macrophyte. Total vegetation area of six dominant aquatic plants was 1.37 $km^2$. Among them, Typha angustifolia was the most wide-distributed species which occupied the 46.7% of total vegetation area. Littoral zone of South Han river had the largest vegetation area with 0.458 $km^2$, and North Han river, Kyungan river and confluence area in the order named. The results of the contents of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus of macrophytes showed that the carbon contents of emergent macrophytes was higher than that of other life-forms. The nitrogen content of Salvinia natans, free-floating macrophyte was highest and that of Typha angustifolia, emergent macrophyte was lowest. The phosphorus content of Trapa japonica showed the highest content of phosphorus among six macrophytes and emergent macrophytes such as Zizania latifolia and Phragmites australis showed lower contents of phosphorus than other life-forms. The annual net primary production of macrophytes in Lake Paldang, 2004, was calculated as 758.4 ton C $yr^{-1}$ and the annual net nitrogen and phosphorus uptake of macrophyte was 16,921 kg $yr^{-1}$ and 1,841.0 kg P $yr^{-1}$ respectively. Comparing the total budget of organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in Lake Paldang, the amount of primary production and nutrient uptake by macrophytes take a small portion in total budget implying macrophytes do not play an important role in budget of matters in river-type lake, Lake Paldang.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.74-84
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• 2017

Soil erosion is often extreme in Korea due to high rainfall intensities and steep slopes, and climate change has also increased the risk of erosion. Despite its significane, erosion-induced soil organic carbon (SOC) emission and water resource loss are not well understood, along with the lack of an integrated surface soil erosion protection policy. Therefore, to design adequate protection policies, land users, scientists, engineers and decision makers need proper information about surface soil and watershed properties related to greenhouse gas emission potential and water conservation capability, respectively. Assuming the total soil erosion of $346Tg\;yr^{-1}$, soil organic matter (SOM) content of 2% (58% of SOM is SOC), and mineralization rate of 20% of the displaced carbon, erosion-induced carbon emission could reach $800Gg\;C\;yr^{-1}$. Also the available water capacity of the soil was estimated to be 15.8 billion tons, which was 14 times higher than the yearly water supply demand in Seoul, Korea. Therefore, in order to prevent of soil erosion, this study proposes a three-stage plan for surface soil erosion prevention: 1) classification of soil erosion risk and scoring of surface soil quality, 2) selection of priority areas for conservation and best management practices (BMP), and 3) application of BMP and post management.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2012

To calculate and predict soil carbon budget and cycle, it is important to understand the complex interrelationships involved in soil respiration rate (Rs). We attempted to reveal relationships between Rs and key environmental factors, such as soil temperature, using a laboratory incubation method. Soil samples were collected from mature deciduous (MD), mature coniferous (MC), immature deciduous (ID), and immature coniferous (IC) forests. Prior to measure, soils were pre-incubated for 3 days at $25^{\circ}C$ and 60% of maximum water holding capacity (WHC). Samples of gasses were collected with 0, 2, and 4 h interval after the beginning of the measurement at soil temperatures of 5, 15, 25, and $35^{\circ}C$ (at 60% WHC). Air samples were collected using a syringe attached to the cap of closed bottles that contained the soil samples. The $CO_2$ concentration of each gas sample was measured by gas chromatography. Rs was strongly correlated with soil temperature (r, 0.93 to 0.96; P < 0.001). For MD, MC, ID, and IC soils taken from 0-5 cm below the surface, exponential functions explained 90%, 82%, 92%, and 86% of the respective data plots. The temperature and Rs data for soil taken from 5-10 cm beneath the surface at MD, MC, ID, and IC sites also closely fit exponential functions, with 83%, 95%, 87%, and 89% of the data points, respectively, fitting an exponential curve. The soil organic content in mature forests was significantly higher than in soils from immature forests (P < 0.001 at 0-5 cm and P < 0.005 at 5-10 cm) and surface layer (P = 0.04 at 0-5 cm and P = 0.12). High soil organic matter content is clearly associated with high Rs, especially in the surface layer. We determined that the incubation method used in this study have the possibility for comprehending complex characteristic of Rs.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.319-329
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• 2015

The characteristics of aerosol light extinction were investigated by comparing measured and calculated extinction coefficient to understand the contribution of air pollutants on visibility impairment for data during 4 months (Jan~ April), 2014. The integrated nephelometer and aethalometer system were installed to measure the scattering and absorption coefficients of aerosol as well as BAM 1020, MARGA, semi-continuous OCEC analyzer, and online-XRF to calculate the extinction coefficient. The IMPROVE_2005 equation was used to determine the contributions of different chemical components on visibility impairment in $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{10}$ due to highest correlation with measured data. Sulfate, nitrate, and organic mass by carbon (OMC) of fine aerosol were the major contributors affecting on visibility impairment. Total contributions to light extinction were calculated as $631.0Mm^{-1}$ for the worst-case and $64.4Mm^{-1}$ for the best-case. The concentrations of aerosol component for the worst-case were 38.4 times and 45.5 times larger than those of the best-case for $(NH_4)_2SO_4$ and $NH_4NO_3$, respectively. At lower visibility condition, in which extinction coefficient was higher than $400Mm^{-1}$, extinction coefficient varied according to the relative humidity variation regardless of $PM_{2.5}$.

• Water for future
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.191-202
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• 1996

Advanced water treatment for water supply is being introduced for the treatment of various organic materials which cannot be removed by conventional water treatment methods. While the development of advanced water treatment system appropriate to the domestic enviropment of advanced water treatment system appropriate to the domestic environment is essential, the study on the economic costs and the social impact is also of importance. In this paper, it is shown how to estimate the costs (capital and maintenance) for advanced water treatment facilities, especially those using ozone treatment combined with activated carbon process and membrance separation. Estimated costs were compared with the government budget. Also, a general relation between the system capacity and investment was derived. Four alternatives were considered form the aspect of the amount of water to be produced and the delivery system to the user. These alternatives were applied to the city of Pusan. It turned out that bottled water, produced only for drinking, has best economic advantages in having minimum system capacity without detriment to water quality.