• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.471-482
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• 2019

Water treatment system filled with Bio-stone Ball (BSB) have been developed for the purification of polluted water in many rivers and lakes. The real-scale plants of BSB water treatment system was constructed for field application test and water purification evaluation in Maewha reservoir. The average water purification efficiencies of BSB watertreatment system shows BOD 70.3% (47.2~97.4%), COD 45.3% (26.1~64.7%), TOC 19.2% (8.5~50.0%), SS 82.8% (73.1~92.7%), Chl-a 80.4% (57.2~91.8%), TN 23.2% (6.4~39.5%), and TP 51.8% (-1.1~80.1%). BSB water treatment system shows very high at 70~80% in the water purification efficiencies of BOD, Chl-a, and SS. The average of pollution loading reduction by installation of BSB treatment system shows 39.2% for COD and 16.8% for TP. The water quality improvement rates (%) of the Maewha reservoir shows TOC 14.5%, COD 14.5%, Chl-a 12.5% and TP 25.1%. The BSB watertreatment system can be applied to many agricultural reservoirs and major rivers to deal with serious water pollution issues.

• Clean Technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.291-296
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• 2021

Recently, there has been increasing demand for advancing photocatalytic techniques that are capable of the efficient removal of organic pollutants in water. TiO₂, a representative photocatalytic material, has been commonly used as an effective photocatalyst, but it is rather expensive and an alternative is required that will fulfill the requirements of both high performing photocatalytic activities and cost-effectiveness. In this work, ZnO, which is more cost effective than TiO₂, was synthesized by using a microreactor-assisted nanomaterials (MAN) process. The process enabled a continuous production of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) with a flower-like structure with high uniformity. In order to resolve the limited light absorption of ZnO arising from its large band gap, Ag NPs were uniformly decorated on the flower-like ZnO surface by using the MAN process. The plasmonic effect of Ag NPs led to a broadening of the absorption range toward visible wavelengths. Ag NPs also helped inhibit the electron-hole recombination by drawing electrons generated from the light absorption of the flower-like ZnO NPs. As a result, the Ag-ZnO nanocomposites showed improved photocatalytic activities compared with the flower-like ZnO NPs. The photocatalytic activities were evaluated through the degradation of methylene blue (MB) solution. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed the successful synthesis of Ag-ZnO nanocomposites with high uniformity. Ag-ZnO nanocomposites synthesized via the MAN process offer the potential for cost-effective and scalable production of next-generation photocatalytic materials.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.131-143
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• 2021

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the atmospheric concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the urinary concentration of biomarkers in residents near the Shinpyeong·Jangrim Industrial Complex to compare them with those of residents in a control area. Methods: Hazardous air pollutants (PAHs and VOCs) were measured in an exposure area (two sites) and a control area (one site). Urine samples were collected from residents near the industrial complex (184 persons) and residents in the control area (181 persons). Multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify which factors affected the concentration of PAHs and VOCs metabolites. Results: The average atmospheric concentration of PAHs in Shinpyeong-dong and Jangrim-dong was 0.45 and 0.59 ppb for pyrene, 0.15 and 0.16 ppb for benzo[a]pyrene, and 0.29 and 0.35 ppb for dibenz[a,h]anthracene. The average atmospheric concentration of VOCs was 1.10 and 0.99 ppb for benzene, 8.22 and 11.30 ppb for toluene, and 1.91 and 3.05 ppb for ethylbenzene, respectively. The concentrations of PAHs and VOCs in residents near the Shinpyeong·Jangrim Industrial Complex were higher than those of residents in the control area. Geometric means of urinary 2-hydroxyfluorene, 1-hydroxypyrene, methylhippuric acid, and mandelic acid concentrations were 0.45, 0.22, 391.51, and 201.36 ㎍/g creatinine, respectively. Those levels were all significantly higher than those in the control area (p<0.05). In addition, as a result of multiple regression analysis, even after adjusting for potential confounding factors such as gender and smoking, the concentration of metabolites in urine was high in residents near the Shinpyeong·Jangrim Industrial Complex. Conclusion: The results of this study show the possibility of human exposure to VOCs in residents near the Shinpyeong·Jangrim Industrial Complex. Therefore, continuous monitoring of the local community is required for the management of environmental pollutant emissions.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.215-230
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• 2019

The objective of this research is to evaluate the water quality characteristics using the statistical analysis of major tributaries in the Han River and to provide water quality improvement plan by selecting tributaries that should be preferentially managed by river grade classification method. The major 15 tributaries in Han River watershed were monitored for discharge and water quality during January-December 2017. As a result of the correlation analysis, the river discharge has been not correlation with other water quality constituents (p>0.05) but COD and TOC were significantly correlated (r=0.957, p<0.01). The main cause of water quality fluctuation was organic pollutants and nutrients in the principal component analysis (PCA) method. The BOD, COD, TOC, TN, and TP were found to be significantly different (p<0.05) by seasonal in result of one-way ANOVA analysis. Result of river grade classification by quantitative indicators the tributaries requiring improvement of water quality were Gulpocheon, Anyangcheon, Wangsukcheon, and Tancheon which affected by wastewater treatment plant.In this research, we determined tributaries that need to improve the water quality of Han River watershed and it can be used as an important data for efficient water quality management.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.704-716
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• 2018

The aim of this study is to examine the characteristics analysis of the discharge and water quality based on TPLMS (Total Pollution Load Management System) in the Jinwi River unit basin, and to propose a management plan by selecting the point that needs improvement of water quality in order to achieve the target water quality. We evaluated the discharge and water quality characteristics, statistical analysis, daily delivery load and daily delivery density, grade classification, for 14 total pollution load site's from 2014 to 2016 year in Jinwi river unit basin. The average discharge of Jinwi river unit basin is $22.411m^3/s$ and discharge of Hwangguji River is 32.8% and the water quality characteristics along the tributary river were clarified spatially. As the result, it was analyzed that Seongeun River is an indirect indicator of organic pollutants, Gwanri River is a seasonal factor, Osan River and Hwangguji River both affect water quality. Estimation of delivered pollutant loads at the HG-3 site was 6,470.4 BOD kg/day, 6,846.7 TN kg/day and delivered pollutant loads density increased to $220.9BOD\;kg/day/km^2$, $22.4TP\;kg/day/km^2$ at the HG-4 site. This result demonstrates that the total pollution load site needed to improve water quality of the Jinwi River unit basin was HG-3 site.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.125-140
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• 2022

Road Deposited Sediment (RDS) is the solids formed from the wear of road, wear of vehicles, exhausts, and the input of the emissions from various sources out of the roads. RDS is seriously polluted by organic matter, nutrients, and metals. RDS plays an important role as the sink and the transport medium of the associated pollutants because RDS can be carried to the adjacent water system via stormwater runoff. In this regard, the heavy metals in RDS were investigated based on the publications. The contents of the metals in RDS were highly variable. The concentration of Cr, Ni, Cu, Fe, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb in urban RDS in various regions was in a range of 3.16-3,410, 1.15-1,382, 20.2-9,069, 2,980-124,853, 81-2,550, 2.3-214, 0.19-21.3, and 15.21-1,125 mg/kg, respectively. The anthropogenic enrichment of the metals in RDS was confirmed by the high concentration of Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb. The contents of the metals were higher in industrial and traffic areas than in residential areas, while they were generally increased with decreasing particle size. It is believed that this study's results would contribute to quantifying the metals' load via RDS and establishing control strategies.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.292-303
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• 2022

An eco-friendly energy conversion device without the emission of pollutants has gained much attention due to the rapid use of fossil fuels inducing carbon dioxide emissions ever since the first industrial revolution in the 18th century. Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) that can produce water during the reaction without the emission of carbon dioxide are promising devices for automotive and residential applications. As a key component of PEMFCs, polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) need to have high proton conductivity and physicochemical stability during the operation. Currently, perfluorinated sulfonic acid-based PEMs (PFSA-PEMs) have been commercialized and utilized in PEMFC systems. Although the PFSA-PEMs are found to meet these criteria, there is an ongoing need to improve these further, to be useful in practical PEMFC operation. In addition, the well-known drawbacks of PFSA-PEMs including low glass transition temperature and high gas crossover need to be improved. Therefore, this review focused on recent trends in the development of high-performance PFSA-PEMs in three different ways. First, control of the side chain of PFSA copolymers can effectively improve the proton conductivity and thermal stability by increasing the ion exchange capacity and polymer crystallinity. Second, the development of composite-type PFSA-PEMs is an effective way to improve proton conductivity and physical stability by incorporating organic/inorganic additives. Finally, the incorporation of porous substrates is also a promising way to develop a thin pore-filling membrane showing low membrane resistance and outstanding durability.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.183-190
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• 2008

PFOS (Perfluorooctane sulfonate) and PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid) are environmental hormones which belong to potential future persistent organic pollutants (POPs), and it is easy to exposure to human because they are used in a wide variety of consumer products. We studied exposure route and the relativity through determining and monitoring of PFOS and PFOA in Korean plasma of metropolis, small town, rural area and industrial area. And we monitored the concentration of PFOS and PFOA regarding the gender and age. The older age is, the higher concentration of PFOS is. The mean concentration of PFOS and PFOA in men (4.74 ng/mL, 2.20 ng/mL) was higher than that in women (3.53 ng/mL, 1.17 ng/mL). In the comparison of residential areas, the mean concentration of PFOS and PFOA was the lowest in metropolitan plasma (2.47 ng/mL, 0.79 ng/mL) whereas it was the highest in the industrial area (6.57 ng/mL, 2.19 ng/mL).

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2007

This study was performed to investigate the distributions of volatile organic compounds and carbonyl compounds at the 120 households in new apartments before occupation. The concentration of toluene, m, p-xylene, formaldehyde, acetone and ethylbenzene dominated as $272.81{\mu}g/m^3$, $98.90{\mu}g/m^3$, $71.68{\mu}g/m^3$, $70.58{\mu}g/m^3$ and $49.76{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. The identified compounds by standards occupied 42.5% of the TVOCs, also the concentration of toluene occupied the largest part of the identified compounds as 18.5%. The concentration of formaldehyde and acetone were 43.1% and 42.4% among carbonyl compounds. The indoor/outdoor ratio of the concentration of benzene, toluene, formaldehyde and o-xylene were investigated 1.29, 3.59, 10.76 and 28.74, respectively.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.376-385
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• 2009

In our study, the accuracy for measurement of seventeen 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDDs/PCDFs in certified reference material (CRM) which is the sample of homogeneous sediment matrix taken from an area known to have significant chemical contamination, particularly PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), was evaluated. Though the methodology in this study followed the official method of unintentionally produced persistent organic pollutants (UPOPs) announced by the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Korea in 2007, there were slight changes using additional purification step by activated carbon column because the interferences of sample were not sufficiently removed when only multi-silica column and alumina column have been used for purification. The |En| number proposed by the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science was used for a valuation basis of the accuracy. The |En| numbers of seventeen 2,3,7,8-substituted PCDDs/PCDFs have been indicated as 1 and below, they were decided "Pass" in this test, when DB-5MS column and SP-2331 column were used together. Because 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD and #169-HxCB were not separated on DB-5MS column, the ions of 1,2,3,7,8-PeCDD were selected at M/M+2 instead of M+2/M+4 suggested by EPA 1613. It is possible to distinguish them in HRGC/HRMS analysis.