• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.266-276
• /
• 2017

A life cycle impact assessment was applied in an industrial waste incineration plant to evaluate the direct and indirect environmental impacts based on toxicity and non-toxicity categories. The detailed life cycle inventory of material and energy inputs and emission outputs was compiled based on the realistic data collected from a local industrial waste incineration plant, and the Korean life cycle inventory and ecoinvent database. The functional unit was the treatment of 1 tonne of industrial waste by incineration and the system boundary included the incineration plant and landfilling of ash. The result on the variation of the impact by the unit processes showed that the direct impact was decreased by 79.3, 71.6, and 90.1% for the processes in a semi dry reactor, bag filter, and wet scrubber, respectively. Considering the final impact produced from stack, the toxicity categories comprised 91.7% of the total impact. Among the toxicity impact categories, the impact in the eco-toxicity category was most significant. A separate estimation of the impact due to direct and indirect emissions showed that the direct impact was 97.7% of the total impact. The steam recovered from the waste heat of the incineration plant resulted in a negative environmental burden.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.262-266
• /
• 2018

Phytochemicals have been considered as alternatives for synthetic fungicides because of their biodegradability and low toxicity. In this study, we found that the methanolic extract of Corydalis ternata suppressed the development of plant diseases caused by Puccinia triticina and Colletotrichum coccodes. As the antifungal substance, three isoquinoline alkaloids (dehydrocorydaline, stylopine, and corydaline) were isolated from C. ternata. These active compounds also exhibited in vivo antifungal activity against P. triticina and C. coccodes. Taken together, our results suggest that C. ternata and its active compounds can be used to control plant diseases.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.31 no.7
• /
• pp.467-472
• /
• 2009

Seedling growth test is used to assess toxicity of nanoparticles (NPs). This study evaluates toxicity of zinc, zinc oxide NPs on Cucumis sativus using two methods; phytagel and filter paper. From the comparison, phytagel method prevents precipitation of water insoluble NPS. Seeding length was negatively related to the exposed concentration of Zn, ZnO NPs in filter method. The median effective concentrations (EC50) for C. sativus exposed to Zn, ZnO NPs were estimated about 598, 600 mg/L in filter method. Bioaccumulation increased with the exposed concentration of Zn, ZnO NPs in only filter method. The results showed that the filter paper method was much better protocol than phytagel method.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.120-124
• /
• 2016

Background: Although cetrimonium bromide is widely used for its bactericidal effects, the safety of cetrimonium bromide remains controversial. Therefore, the phytotoxicity of cetrimonium bromide was tested to evaluate its acute toxicity to plants and possible toxicity to other organisms and the ecosystem. Results: The germination rates of two test species, Lactuca sativa and Brassica campestris, were significantly decreased after cetrimonium bromide treatment. Furthermore, cetrimonium bromide treatment at over 1 mg/L concentration significantly affected root elongation immediately after germination. In pot experiments with semi-mature plants, significantly decreased shoot elongation and chlorophyll content were detected in both species following cetrimonium bromide treatment. Cetrimonium bromide treatment also significantly increased the antioxidant enzyme activities of plants. Conclusion: Our results show that cetrimonium bromide is phytotoxic, and since phytotoxicity testing can imply potential toxicity in the environment, further studies of the environmental toxicity of cetrimonium bromide should be performed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.744-753
• /
• 2021

This study suggests ways to improve the standard test method and judgment criterion for the "Eco-toxicity Test" based on the rules and regulations provided in 'performance and qualifying test standards for marine pollution prevention materials and chemicals' in the Republic of Korea. Compared with the relevant references of other countries, this study attempted to find the limitations in the existing standards. As for the growth inhibition test of algae using Skeletonema costatum as an indicator, applying comparative analysis to measure specific growth rates, together with statistical analysis, instead of applying current methods, judged by the appearance of colors from the culture medium was suggested. Considering the exponential growth phase of the test species, the test duration was suggested to be reduced to less than four days. For the test with fish as an indicator, resetting the appropriate body size was suggested to, show consistent sensitivity against chenicals applied during testing. Furthermore, it is necessary to consider the criteria needs, which should be established in reasonable and objective ways. For the testing species, marine rotifer, Brachionus plicatilis could be a replacement for Artemia sp., and a bivalve for fish in the test. To improve the performance effectiveness of the "Eco-toxicity test", it is worth considering the designation of accredited testing institutes, by placing it in the same loop. Thus it is also expected to have a reliable management system in place, having the capacity of cost calculation properly and adjusting testing items if required.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.57-68
• /
• 2010

The purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics of environment-friendliness of waterproof materials based on comprehensive experiments on waterproofness in terms of coefficients of permeability, harmfulness of waterproof materials and fish toxicity of Oryzias latipes mortality to verify eco-toxicity of each method of construction and waterproof material, which are to be applied by taking eco-toxicity into account when building ecological flows in upper areas on natural and artificial grounds. As a result, the following conclusions have been reached in this study: 1. In regard of the harmfulness analyzed, each material showed a different result of analytical value in each lab tank. Compared to input water, pH, COD, SS, T-P, and T-N values increased a little, but DO value decreased. The value of turbidity analyzed independent of the water quality standard of aquatic ecosystem set forth by the Ministry of Environment increased a little compared to the value in input water. 2. In the experiment of fish toxicity, compacted quicklime, cement fluid waterproof material, cement mortar waterproof material and bentonite powder were found to have 100% of fish mortality, respectively, and membrane waterproof material showed 83.3% of mortality, indicating strong fish toxicity. Improved asphalt sheet (63.3%) and synthetic rubber sheet (53.3%) were analyzed to have medium fish toxicity, while bentonite sheet (6.7%), Hwang-toh (6.7%) and clay (3.3%) showed relatively lower mortality and fish toxicity. 3. Regarding the analysis on waterproofness in terms of the coefficient of permeability of each waterproof material, improved asphalt sheet, synthetic rubber sheet, membrane waterproof material, cement fluid and mortar waterproof material and bentonite sheet were found impervious in case no leakage takes place in construction. Bentonite powder was found practically impervious based on the analytical results from the experiment done in compliance with weight ratios. So were the clay and Hwang-toh from the experimental results. To sum up such results as found in the experiment mentioned so far, the values of harmfulness and waterproofness analyzed were different in each lab tank, but there was absolutely little correlation with the mortality gained from the experiment on fish toxicity. In the experiment of fish toxicity, environment-friendly waterproof materials were analyzed, and it was found that clay, Hwang-toh and bentonite sheet are highly environment-friendly. In contrast, synthetic rubber and improved asphalt sheets were found to have medium-level environment-friendliness. Also, membrane water-proof materials, compacted quicklime, cement fluid and mortar waterproof material and bentonite powder were analyzed to have low environment-friendliness.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.23 no.9
• /
• pp.1279-1286
• /
• 2013

Particle size and metal species are important to both soil microbial toxicity and phytotoxicity in the soil ecosystem. The effects of CuO and ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) and microparticles (MPs) on soil microbial toxicity, phytotoxicity, and bioaccumulation in two crops (Cucumis sativus and Zea mays) were estimated in a soil microcosm. In the microcosm system, soil was artificially contaminated with 1,000 mg/kg CuO and ZnO NPs and MPs. After 15 days, we compared the microbial toxicity and phytotoxicity by particle size. In addition, C. sativus and Z. mays were cultivated in soils treated with CuO NPs and ZnO NPs, after which the treatment effects on bioaccumulation were evaluated. NPs were more toxic than MPs to microbes and plants in the soil ecosystem. We found that the soil enzyme activity and plant biomass were inhibited to the greatest extent by CuO NPs. However, in a Biolog test, substrate utilization patterns were more dependent upon metal type than particle size. Another finding indicated that the metal NP uptake amounts of plants depend on the plant species. In the comparison between C. sativus and Z. mays, the accumulation of Cu and Zn by C. sativus was noticeably higher. These findings show that metal oxide NPs may negatively impact soil bacteria and plants. In addition, the accumulation patterns of NPs depend on the plant species.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.393-399
• /
• 2020

The use of different types of wastewater (WW) for the cultivation of microalgae and cyanobacteria during recent decades has provided important economic and environmental benefits. However, direct use of WW can lead to growth inhibition and biomass contamination. In the present study, we separated the key WW nutrients, namely nitrate and phosphate, by adsorption and regeneration and used the resulting regenerated water to cultivate the cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis. The adsorbent was granular γ-alumina derived from waste aluminum cans. This procedure recovered 19.9% of nitrate and 23.7% of phosphate from WW. The cyanobacterial cultures efficiently assimilated the nutrients from the medium prepared using regenerated WW, and the growth and nutrient uptake were similar to those in a synthetic medium. In addition, imposing nutrient limitations to increase carbohydrate productivity was easily achieved using regenerated wastewater nutrients, without requiring additional dilution or complex processing. In acute toxicity tests, the harvested biomass in a regenerated medium had similar toxicity levels compared to the biomass obtained from a synthetic medium. The proposed method of using regenerated WW to produce contamination-free biomass has broad potential applications.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.41-46
• /
• 2013

The cladoceran Daphniamagna has been used as an aquatic test species in aquatic toxicology. To evaluate the aquatic toxicity of leachate from concrete, the immobilization of D. magna was observed after treatment of various concentrations of leachate specimens. Reliabilities of the culture condition and the experimental protocol for acute toxicity test were successfully achieved from the standard toxicity test. The leachates were prepared from the mixture of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and pozzolanic admixtures, Pulverised fuel ash (PFA), Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and GGBS containing loess. Acute toxicity test showed 100% immobilization of D. magna for OPC or PFA. The leachates from OPC or PFA had high pH 10 to 12. However, GGBS and GGBS containing loess showed less toxicity according to the concentrations. Especially, immobilization was not observed at the concentrations below 12.5% of GGBS containing loess. Also the range of pH for these specimens was 8 to 9. This suggested that the use of loess as the admixture in concrete may be useful to reduce eco-toxicity of leachates from concrete. This our study provided the harmfulness of the alkali leaching from concrete in aquatic environment and the usefulness of D. magna to evaluate the toxicity of leachates from concrete.

• Mycobiology
• /
• v.49 no.4
• /
• pp.421-433
• /
• 2021

Morchella is a genus of fungi with the ability to concentrate Cd both in the fruit-body and mycelium. However, the molecular mechanisms conferring resistance to Cd stress in Morchella are unknown. Here, RNA-based transcriptomic sequencing was used to identify the genes and pathways involved in Cd tolerance in Morchella spongiola. 7444 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified by cultivating M. spongiola in media containing 0.15, 0.90, or 1.50 mg/L Cd²⁺. The DEGs were divided into six sub-clusters based on their global expression profiles. GO enrichment analysis indicated that numerous DEGs were associated with catalytic activity, cell cycle control, and the ribosome. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the main pathways under Cd stress were MAPK signaling, oxidative phosphorylation, pyruvate metabolism, and propanoate metabolism. In addition, several DEGs encoding ion transporters, enzymatic/non-enzymatic antioxidants, and transcription factors were identified. Based on these results, a preliminary gene regulatory network was firstly proposed to illustrate the molecular mechanisms of Cd detoxification in M. spongiola. These results provide valuable insights into the Cd tolerance mechanism of M. spongiola and constitute a robust foundation for further studies on detoxification mechanisms in macrofungi that could potentially lead to the development of new and improved fungal bioremediation strategies.