• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.271-279
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• 2009

Vinyl chloride (VC) is a known human carcinogen, and it is released to multi-environmental media via several exposure routes. VC was potentially evaluated as a water quality pollutant based on human health risk assessment in Korean water environments. In this study, we investigated physicochemical and toxicological properties of VC, human health and ecological risk assessment, and the regulation of VC as a water quality pollutant in developed countries. Currently there are no standard or guideline values of VC in Korean legal system for the protection of human health and aquatic ecosystem, except that it is designated as a specific toxic substance and a water quality pollutant. Human health risk assessment of VC was previously performed based on the limited water quality monitoring data. The monitoring level of VC in Korean water system is more higher than other countries'. VC was assessed as potential hazardous chemical based on the US EPA's cancer risk assessment. There were a few ecotoxicity data of VC available using very limited kinds of aquatic organisms, and the toxicity results obtained seem to be overestimated without considering the losses of VC in open exposure system. Therefore it is needed to monitor the VC in various areas and to carry out the ecotoxicity research using multi-level organisms. We expect that these results can be useful information for implementing VC as a water quality pollutant in legal system for the protection of human health and aquatic ecosystem in near future.

• Proceedings of the Korea Water Resources Association Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.259-259
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• 2017

국내 하천에는 하천을 가로지르는 보나 낙차공과 같은 횡단구조물이 약 5만여개에 달하고 있다. 이러한 횡단구조물은 작업의 용이성 및 높은 강도로 인해 오랜 시간 콘크리트 소재로 사용되어 왔다. 기존 콘크리트 소재의 공법은 설치되어 있는 한 세굴 방지에 좋은 효과를 발휘한다는 장점이 있지만 포설된 공법은 시간이 지남에 따라 마모되거나 소실되는 문제가 발생되며, 최종적으로 하천횡단구조물의 안전성 및 심미성에도 영향을 미치게 된다. 이와 더불어 최근 기후변화로 인해 강우량의 증대 및 집중호우 등의 돌변하는 하천환경변화에 대한 적용 가능한 기술이 미비한 실정이다. 이러한 문제와 더불어 환경에 대한 관심이 높아짐에 따라 자연친화적 하천 및 생태복원 하천에 대한 하천 수질 및 생태학적 건강성에 대한 연구의 관심이 높아지고 있다. 최근 연구결과에 따르면 콘크리트 소재를 활용하여 횡단구조물을 설치할 경우, 콘크리트 소재의 문제점으로 제기되는 납, 크롬 등과 같은 중금속 용출과 석회석으로부터 유출되는 강염기성 물질로 인한 하천의 수질악화와 수생 생물이 독성환경에 노출되어 다양한 환경 생태학적 문제를 발생시킬 수 있다고 보고되어 있다. 본 연구에서는 콘크리트 소재의 대안으로 무 저독성 소재인 식물성 폴리우레탄을 이용하여 연구를 수행하였다. 기초 조사를 통해 콘크리트 소재의 대안으로 사용가능성을 확인하기 위하여 식물성 폴리우레탄의 물리적 강도를 확인하였으며, 환경에 미치는 영향을 파악하기 위하여 대한 생태학적 건강성을 확인하였다. 품질 특성은 바인딩강도, 내구성, 압축강도, 휨강도, 투수계수 등을 확인하였으며, 생태학적 건강성을 확인하기 위하여 양서 파충류의 독성 실험, 어류 독성평가, 부착조류에 대한 실험을 수행하였다. 이러한 결과를 바탕으로 시범지역인 대청천 일부 구간에 대하여 계절별 물리/화학/생물(식생, 어류, 저서동물)에 대한 모니터링을 수행하였다. 또한 홍수 전 후의 하상변동을 통해 개발기술의 안전성을 확인하였다.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.174-190
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• 1996

Damage assessment based on in situ surveys for oil spills in marine environment is limited by fundamental difficulties as well as tremendous expenses. Except for intertidal zones, the damage is not preserved well. Also such surveys are usually confined to adult organisms. To overcome these limitations a computer model, NRDAM/CME, was developed in the case of USA (Reed et al., 1989), where an acute toxicity data base was used to assess indirect damages through food webs and loss due to recruitment as well as adult losses. In the present study damage assessment of natural biological resources for hypothetical oil spills is attempted using a computer model for hypothetical spills of Bunker C and heavy crude oil. In the model, the logical structure of NRDAM/CME was adopted, and biomass and productivity database were compiled for the Korean waters. The results showed that the damage increased in a nonlinear fashion as the spill amount increased. The magnitude of the damage depended upon the chemical properties of oil viscosity and solubility in particular, which implies that usage of oil dispersant might increase the damage by dispersing oil. The results also indicate that long term damage due to recruitment loss could be greater than short term damage.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.662-671
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• 2015

As the type of Hazardous and Noxious Substances(HNS) becomes various and the transport volume of HNS increases, HNS spill incidents occur frequently on land and the sea. In view of various damages to human lives and properties by HNS spills, it is necessary to educate and train professional personnel in preparation for and response to potential HNS spills. This study shows the current state of response systems and education courses against HNS spill incidents on land and the sea to compare those with each other between land and sea in Korea. Incident command system on land are basically similar to that at sea, but leading authority which is responsible for combating HNS spills at sea is changeable depending on the location of HNS spill, as it were, Korea Coast Guard(KCG) is responsible for urgent response to HNS spill at sea, while municipalities are responsible for the response to HNS drifted ashore. Education courses for HNS responders on land are established at National Fire Service Academy(NFSA), National Institute of Chemical Safety(NICS), etc., and are diverse. Education and training courses for HNS responder at sea are established at Korea Coast Guard Academy(KCGA) and Marine Environment Research & Training Institute(MERTI), and are comparatively simple. Education courses for dangerous cargo handlers who work in port where land is linked to the sea are established at Korea Maritime Dangerous Goods Inspection & Research Institute(KOMDI), Korea Port Training Institute(KPTI) and Korea Institute of Maritime and Fisheries Technology(KIMFT). Through the comparison of education courses for HNS responders between land and sea, some recommendations such as extension of education targets, division of an existing integrated HNS course into two courses composed of operational level and manager level with respective refresh course, on-line cyber course and joint inter-educational institute course in cooperation with other relevant institutes are proposed for the improvement in education courses of KCG and KOEM(Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation) to educate and train professionals for combating HNS spills at sea in Korea.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.99-107
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• 1997

In this study, a series of batch-scale tests were conducted to optimize the design parameters for the application of soil washing techniques to the hydrophobic organic compounds(HOCs)-contaminated soil and to find the effective methods for the recovery of surfactants from washing effluent by using solvent. Several nonionic surfactants (polyoxyethylene oleyl ester) and sophorolipid were applied to the artificially contaminated soil (4,000 mg n-dodecane/kg dry soil). The effects of washing time, concentration of surfactant solution, dilution ratio, and temperature on washing efficiencies were examined. Hydrophile-liphophile balance (HLB) number was proven to be one of the important parameters for soil washing. The HLB numbers of OA-5 and sophorolipid are too low to form a stable soil-water emulsion. They showed very low washing efficiencies less than 10e1o. If HLB number is in the proper range to form a stable soil-water emulsion, surfactant having higher solubility for HOCs shows higher washing efficiency. OA-14 having higher HLB number than OA-9 formed more stable soil-water emulsion. But its washing efficiency was about 20% due to a lower molar solubility ratio (MSR) than OA-9. OA-9, which forms a stable soil-water emulsion and has comparatively high sotubility for HOCs, showed about 60% washing efficiency by itself. To recover anthracene effectively from OA-9 washing effluent by using benzene as an organic solvent, desirable temperature and pH were $30^{\circ}C$ and 2, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.1 s.106
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• pp.112-121
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• 2004

A study was performed to examine the effects of UV-disinfected reclaimed water on microorganism concentration during rice culture. Four treatments were used and each one was triplicated to evaluate the changes of microorganism concentrations: stream water irrigation (STR), biofilter effluent irrigation (BE), UV-disinfected water irrigation with dose of 6 mW ${\cdot}$ s $cm{-2}$ (UV-6), and UV-disinfected water irrigation with dose of 16 mW ${\cdot}$ s $cm{-2}$ (UV-16). The indicator microorganisms of interest were total coliform (TC), fecal coliform (FC), and E. coli. The biofilter effluent from 16-unit apartment sewage treatment plant was used as reclaimed water and flowthrough type UV-disinfection system was used. Concentrations of indicator microorganisms in the treatment plots ranged from $10^2$ to $10^5$ MPN/100 mL during 24 hours after irrigation in May and June, where initial irrigation water for transplanting reparation was biofilter-effluent without UV-disinfection. It implies that initial irrigation using only non-disinfected reclaimed water for puddling in paddy field can be health-concerned because of more chance of farmer's physical contact with elevated concentration of microorganisms. The concentrations of microorganisms varied widely with rainfall, and treatments using UV-disinfected water irrigation showed significantly lower concentrations than others and their levels were within the range of paddy rice field with normal surface water irrigation. The mean concentrations of STR and BE during growing season were in the range of 4 ${\times}\;10^3$ MPN/100 mL for TC, and 2${\times}\;10^3$ MPN/100 mL for FC and E, Coli, While mean concentrations of UV-S and UV-lS were less than 1${\times}\;10^3$ MPN/100 mL for all the indicator microorganisms. Overall, UV-disinfection was thought to be feasible and practical alternative for agricultural reuse of secondary level effluent in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.109-111
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• 2010

Recent studies have described various microorganisms that can degrade PAH, however, there are currently limited methods available to screen for PAH-degrading microorganisms. To screen for PAH-degrading microorganisms, a sublimation method (Alley, Jeremy F. and Lewis R. Brown. 2000. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66, 439-442) was modified to produce a simple screening system. In our results, there were several bacterial species capable of pyrene degradation including genera, Coryenbacterium, Gordonia, Rhodococcus, and Streptomyces, which have been screened from 350 bacterial isolates of commercial gasoline and oil-spilled sediment by the sublimation method. The main advantage of this method is that it (i) safely deposits an even, thin and visible layer of PAH onto the agar surface without the use of solvents and (ii) the quantity of PAH sublimed onto the agar can be easily controlled. Overall, this sublimation method may be an effective and simple technique to screen for PAH-degrading microorganisms.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.107-115
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• 2016

Currently, there are 442 operating nuclear power plants in the world, and 62 more are under construction. According to this reasoning, the treatment of radioactive waste is important to prevent the environmental ecosystem including humans, animals, and plants. Especially, a leakage of radioactive waste causes not only regional problem but also serious global one. In this study, we demonstrate the effect of radioisotopes (e.g., cesium, strontium, and cobalt) on a 3D culture cell. To develop the 3D cell culture system, we used a 96-well-culture plate with biocompatible agarose hydrogel. Using this method, we can perform the 3D cell culture system with three different cell lines such as HeLa, HepG2, and COS-7. In addition, we conducted a cell viability test in the presence of radioisotopes. Interestingly, the 3D morphological cells showed 42% higher cell viability than those on the 2D against cesium. This result indicates that the 3D platform provides cells morphological and physiological characteristic similar to in vivo grown tissues. Moreover, it overcomes the limitation of conventional cell culture system that can't reflect in vivo systems. Finally, we believe that the proposed approach can be applied a new strategy for simple high-throughput screening and accurate evaluation of metal toxicity assay.

• The Korean Journal of Pharmacology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.197-205
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• 1991

Local extravasation during intravenous administration of adriamycin (doxorubicin HCl) can cause severe skin ulceration and necrosis. To investigate the mechanism of adriamycin-induced skin toxicity, effects of adriamycin on reactive oxygen radical metabolism using cultured skin cells of fetal rat. Adriamycin produced significant release of lactic dehydrogenase from cultured skin cell preparations dose- and time-dependently. The production of superoxide anion in sonicated suspensions of cultured skin cells was significantly increased by adriamycin under the presence of NADPH and NADH. The drug also stimulated malondialdehyde (MDA) production, an index of lipid peroxidation, in NADPH- and NADH-supported cell preparations. The increased production of MDA was significantly inhibited by oxygen radical scavengers (superoxide dismutase, catalase, thiourea) and antioxidants (butylated hydroxytoluene, ${\alpha}-tocopherol$). Treatment of cultured skin cells with 1, 3,-bis (2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU), an inhibitor of glutathione reductase, enhanced the lipid peroxidation induced by adriamycin. The present study suggests that lipid peroxidation which is resulted from the stimulated production of reactive oxygen radical causes cellular damage in adriamycin-treated skin cells of rat.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.215-226
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• 2024

Aralia continentalis is widely distributed in Far East Asian countries such as Korea, China, and Japan. A. continentalis has traditionally been used as an herbal remedy for various conditions, including analgesia, headache, inflammation, lameness, lumbago, rheumatism, and dental diseases in Korea. Previously, epi-continentalic acid, continentalic acid, and kaurenoic acid as major active biological compounds belonging to the diterpenoid class were identified. To synthesize diterpenoid derivatives with enhanced bioavailability, Fusarium fujikuroi was employed to biotransform diterpenoids due to its known antibacterial activity. This yielded two derivatives of kaurenoic acid, namely 16α-hydroxyent-kauran-2-on-19-oic acid and 2β, 16α-dihydroxy-ent-kauran-19-oic acid, with their chemical structures elucidated via NMR analysis. These derivatives exhibited increased polarity compared to kaur- enoic acid, as evidenced by their retention time on preparative HPLC using the ODS-A column and structural modifications. Evaluation of their antidiabetic activity targeting PTP1B, a negative regulator of the insulin signaling pathway, revealed inhibitory activities of 30.8% and 27.6%, respectively, at a concentration of 4 ㎍/ml. Additionally, both derivatives demonstrated low cytotoxicity, with an IC50 value 18 times higher than kaurenoic acid. Therefore, the augmented water solubility and reduced toxicity of 16α-hydroxy-ent-kauran-2-on-19-oic acid and 2β, 16α-dihydroxy-ent-kauran-19-oic acid, resulting from biotransformation by F. fujikuroi, render them promising candidates for industrial applications.