• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.297-302
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• 2007

Atmospheric levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at the King Sejong station were monitored for one year using passive air samplers. Low-chlorinated PCB homologues were predominant in all samples. PCB levels were observed to decrease with distance from the station, which may indicate that a significant part of PCBs could be of local origin. Although the level of PCBs at the King Sejong station is very low (${\Sigma}_9PCB$ (18, 52, 101, 118, 128, 138, 153, 180, 187): $2.3\;pg\;m^{-3}$) probably due to decrease in the global PCB emissions, it is one order of magnitude higher than a background level in the Antarctic. Based on this preliminary study, more interpretation on PCB data and meteorological conditions is required.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2018

CALPUFF is one of the recommended air pollution models by EPA with AERMOD. It has been used to simulate the ambient concentration of critical air pollutants as well as non-critical pollutants such as persistent organic matters and the organic materials causing odor. In this model, the air pollutants go through dispersion, transportation, chemical reaction, and deposition process. These mechanisms are significantly influenced by meteorological condition. This study produces the meteorological field in three different methods for the simulation of $SO_2$ using CALPUFF: 1) CALMET model by using both ground-level and aerological observation, 2) CALMET model by using MM5 results with NCEP/NCAR reanalyzed data, 3) CALMET model by using MM5 results in which FDDA is applied with NCEP/NCAR reanalyzed data as well as the meteorological data of Korea Meteorological Administration. As a result of CALPUFF model, the resolved concentration of $SO_2$ showed different behaviors in three cases. For the first case, the fluctuation of SO2 concentration was frequently observed while the fluctuation is reduced in the second and third cases. In addition, the maximum concentration of $SO_2$ in the first case was about 2~3 times higher than the second case, and about 4~6 times higher than the third case. These results can be caused by the accuracy of the resolved meteorological field. It is inferred that the meteorological field of the first case could be less accurate than other two cases. These results show that the use of correct meteorological data can improve the result of dispersion model. Moreover, the contribution of various sources such as point, line, and area sources on the ambient concentration of air pollutant can be roughly estimated from the sensitivity analysis.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.319-325
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• 2016

This study was conducted to investigate residual organochlorine pesticides in green house soil and oriental melon, green pepper, and lettuce. The majority of them were designated as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) by the international community at the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutant. Extraction and clean-up method were developed using the QuEChERS method for residual organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in soil and oriental melon, green pepper and lettuce. Recovery of OCPs in greenhouse soil and oriental melon, green pepper, and lettuce ranged from 73.3-110.6%. Limit of detection (LOD) of OCPs in soil and 3 crops were 0.01-0.08 and $0.11-0.17{\mu}g/kg$. The residues of OCPs in oriental melon, green pepper and lettuce greenhouse soil were analyzed by the developed method, and dieldrin, ${\beta}-endosulfan$ and endosulfan sulfate were detected at 1.4-72.5, 0.1-78.7 and $0.0-214.1{\mu}g/kg$, respectively. The detection frequency of 3 compounds in soils were 52 (29.7%), 34 (19.4%) and 57 (32.6%) among 175 samples, respectively. However, these compounds were not detected in all crop samples. The residue level in 3 crops were lower than 1/58.8 of maximum residue level of them. These results showed that the OCPs residue in oriental melon, green pepper, and lettuce greenhouse soil were not as high as crop safety threatening.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.30 no.sup
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• pp.8.1-8.5
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• 2015

Objectives The objective of this study was to evaluate the biodegradation potential of four perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) alternatives that were developed at Changwon National University. While PFOS has been used widely in industrial and consumer products, it is known to be a persistent organic pollutant. Therefore, greener alternatives are highly desirable. Methods Biodegradation tests were run for 28 days using standard test protocols. The biochemical oxygen demand was measured daily throughout the experimental period, and the data were used to calculate the biodegradation rates. Microorganisms were isolated from the some of the tests that showed evidence of biodegradation. Results $C_8H_8F_9KO_3S$, which has the same number of carbons as the parent compound PFOS but a reduced number of fluorines, showed the highest biodegradation rate followed by $C_{10}H_8F_{13}KO_3S$. Chemical alternatives with lower number of carbons did not biodegrade readily in the experiments. Conclusions Together, these results suggest that it may be advantageous to develop PFOS alternatives with 8 carbons, the same as PFOS, but a reduced number of fluorines; as such, chemicals are more susceptible to biodegradation than the parent compound.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.330-342
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• 2017

Statistical design of experiments was employed to optimize the media composition for the production of laccase from Bacillus sp. PK4. In order to find the key ingredients for the best yield of enzyme production from the selected eleven variables viz yeast extract, glucose, zinc sulphate, copper sulphate, potassium chloride, magnesium sulphate, calcium chloride, ferrous sulphate, sodium chloride, potassium dihydrogen phosphate ($KH_2PO_4$) and dipotassium hydrogen phosphate ($K_2HPO_4$), Plackett-Burman design was applied. The $MgSO_4$, $FeSO_4$, and $CuSO_4$ showed positive estimate, and their concentration optimized further. The steepest ascent method and Box-Behnken method revealed that 1.5 mM $MgSO_4$, 0.33 g/l $FeSO_4$ and 1.41 mM $CuSO_4$ were optimal for the laccase production by Bacillus sp. PK4. This optimization strategy leads to enhancement of laccase production from 2.13 U/ml to 40.79 U/ml. Agro-wastes residues replace the carbon source glucose in the optimized media namely sugarcane bagasse, wheat bran, rice husk, and groundnut shell, among these groundnut shells (117 U/ml) was found to enhance the laccase production significantly. The laccase produced by Bacillus sp. PK4 was found to have the potential to degrade persistent organic pollutant benzo[a]pyrene.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.20-28
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• 2021

Perfluorinated compounds(PFCs), an emerging environmental pollutant, are environmentally persistent and bioaccumulative organic compounds that possess a toxic impact on human health and ecosystems. PFCs are distributed widely in environment media including groundwater, surface water, soil and sediment. PFCs in contaminated solid can potentially leach into groundwater. Therefore, understanding PFCs partitioning between the aqueous phase and solid phase is important for the determination of their fate and transport in the environment. In this study, the sorption equilibrium batch and kinetic experiment of PFCs were carried out to estimated the sorption coefficient(K_d) and the fraction between aqueous-solid phase partition, respectively. Sorption branches of the PFDA(Perfluoro-n-decanoic acid), PFNA(Perfluoro-n-nonanoic acid), PFOA(Perfluoro-n-octanoic acid), PFOS(Perfluoro-1-octane sulfonic acid) and PFHxS(Perfluoro-1-hexane sulfonic acid) isotherms were nearly linear, and the estimated K_d was as follow: PFDA(1.50) > PFOS(1.49) > PFNA(0.81) > PFHxS(0.45) > PFOA(0.39). The sorption kinetics of PFDA, PFNA, PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS onto soil were described by a biexponential adsorption model, suggesting that a fast transport into the surface layer of soil, followed by two-step diffusion transport into the internal water and/or organic matter of soil. Shorter times(<20hr) were required to achieve equilibrium and fraction for adsorption on solid(F₁, F₂) increased with perfluorinated carbon chain length and sulfonate compounds in this study. Overall, our results suggested that not only the perfluorocarbon chain length, but also the terminal functional groups are important contributors to electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between PFCs and soils, and organic matter in soils significantly affects adsorption maximum capacity than kinetic rate.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.192-203
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• 2020

Objectives: The concentration distributions of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs), dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenlys (dl-PCBs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in fine particles were investigated to provide basic data on POP behavior and composition analysis. Methods: The concentrations of PCDD/Fs, dl-PCBs, and PAHs by particle size were evaluated for TSP, PM₁₀, and PM_2.5. Also, fine dust component analysis and factor analysis were performed to identify the source of PCDD/Fs. Results: The particle size distribution was found to account for 24.3% of >10 ㎛, 14.5% of 2.5-10 ㎛, and 61.2% of <2.5 ㎛. The average contributions of coarse particles (>2.5 ㎛) and fine particles (<2.5 ㎛) were PCDD/Fs 67%, dl-PCBs 66%, benzo (a) pyrene 83% and PAHs 84%, and the contributions of fine particles (<2.5 ㎛) were higher than coarse particles (>2.5 ㎛). However, the contributions of coarse particles increased in April to September with higher temperatures, while those of fine particles increased in February to March with lower temperatures. Conclusions: Low chlorinated (4Cl-5Cl) PCDD/Fs were more adsorbed compared to coarse particles due to the influence of pollutant migration from particulate to gas phase according to temperature rise, whereas high chlorinated (6Cl-8Cl) PCDD/Fs were more adsorbed compared to fine particles. PCDD/Fs sources were assessed to be major sources of emissions, such as incineration facilities and/or open burning.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.299-306
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• 1991

When $[U-^{14}C]$ 3,3', 4,4'-tetrachloroazobenzene$([U-^{14}C]\;TCAB)$ was added to the $MM_2$ medium as a sole carbon source for the isolated microorganisms and incubated, some radioactive metabolites were detected by autoradiography. No $^{14}CO_2$ was evolved from $[U-^{14}C]\;TCAB$ which was added as a sole carbon source to an organic matter-free soil inoculated by the isolates, wetted with the $MM_2$ salt medium, and incubated at $30^{\circ}C$. One of the metabolites in pure culture of Achromobacter group VD, which was isolated and identified, was tentatively identified as a compound of m/z 250 by means of GC/MS. The possible pathways for its formation are thought to include dechlorination from the TCAB structure, hydroxylation, ortho fission of the two benzene rings, and reduction of the resulting carboxyl group.