• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.272-281
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• 2022

Background: The constant consumption of chemical products owing to expanding industrialization has led to an increase in public interest in chemical substances. As the production and disposal processes for these chemical products cause environmental problems, regional information on the hazard level of chemical substances is required considering their effects on humans and in order to ensure environmental safety. Objectives: This study aimed to identify hazard contribution and spatiotemporal characteristics by region and chemical by calculating a hazard-based result score using pollutant release and transfer register (PRTR) data. Methods: This study calculated the chemical discharge and hazard-based result score from the Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) model, analyzed their spatiotemporal patterns, and identified hotspot areas where chemical discharges and high hazard-based scores were concentrated. The amount of chemical discharge and hazard-based risk scores for 250 cities and counties across South Korea were calculated using PRTR data from 2011 to 2018. Results: The chemical discharge (high densities in Incheon, Daegu, and Busan) and hazard-based result scores (high densities in Incheon, Chungcheongnam-do, and some areas of Gyeongsangnam-do Province) showed varying spatial patterns. The chemical discharge (A, B) and hazard-based result score (C, D) hotspots were identified. Additionally, identification of the hazard-based result scores revealed differences in the type of chemicals contributing to the discharge. Ethylbenzene accounted for ≥80% of the discharged chemicals in the discharge hotspots, while chromium accounted for >90% of the discharged chemicals in the hazard-based result score hotspots. Conclusions: The RSEI hazard-based result score is a quantitative indicator that considers the degree of impact on human health as a toxicity-weighted value. It can be used for the management of industries discharging chemical substances as well as local environmental health management.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.15-23
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• 2018

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in hazardous pollutant emissions in Korea over the period of 2006-2015. Methods: A survey of hazardous pollutant emissions was conducted through the homepage for 2006-2015. The emission of hazardous chemicals and the health effect was examined using the Annual Report of Air Quality in Korea (2016) and National Health Statistics (2015) as references. Results: Hazardous pollutant emissions increased by 1.1 times over the past decade, and the circulation amount of chemicals was 15% compared to the previous year. $PM_{10}$ concentrations showed a tendency to decrease, but emissions have not declined. In addition, asthma and atopic dermatitis correlated with similar emissions, but allergic disease showed no connection. Conclusion: These results on hazardous pollutant emissions indicate that they have increased. However, no association between emissions and health effects was shown, so more research is needed.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.185-200
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• 2022

The risk of various hazardous substances in aquatic environment comprises not only the concentration of substances in the environmental medium but also their accumulation in fish through complex food web and the health risks to humans through the fish. In Korea, the monitoring of residual toxicant in aquatic ecosystems began in 2016 following the enforcement of the Acts on registration and evaluation for the management of chemicals used in daily life (consumer chemical products), and attention has been paid to potentially hazardous substances attributed to them. Recently, studies have been carried out to investigate the distribution of these hazardous substances in the ecosystem and calculate their emission factors. These include the accumulation and transport of substances, such as detergents, dyes, fragrances, cosmetics, and disinfectants, within trophic levels. This study summarizes the results of recently published research on the inflow and distribution of hazardous substances from consumer chemical products to the aquatic environment and presents the scientific implication. Based on studies on aquatic environment monitoring techniques, this study suggests research directions for monitoring the residual concentration and distribution of harmful chemical substances in aquatic ecosystems. In particular, this study introduces the directions for research on trophic position analysis using compound specific isotope analysis and trophic magnification factors, which are needed to fulfill the contemporary requirements of selecting target fish based on the survey of major fish that inhabit domestic waters and assessment of associated health risk. In addition, this study provides suggestions for future biota monitoring and chemical research in Korea.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.607-618
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• 2017

Harmful air pollutants are exhausted from the various industrial facilities including the coal-fired thermal power plants and these substances affects on the human health as well as the nature environment. In particular, nitrogen oxides ($NO_x$) and sulfur dioxide ($SO_2$) are known to be causative substances to form fine particles ($PM_{2.5}$), which are also deleterious to human health. The integrated system composed of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) have been widely applied in order to control $NO_x$ and $SO_2$ emissions, resulting in high investment and operational costs, maintenance problems, and technical limitations. Recently, new technologies for the simultaneous removal of $NO_x$ and $SO_2$ from the flue gas, such as absorption, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), non-thermal plasma (NTP), and electron beam (EB), are investigated in order to replace current integrated systems. The proposed technologies are based on the oxidation of $NO_x$ and $SO_2$ to $HNO_3$ and $H_2SO_4$ by using strong aqueous oxidants or oxidative radicals, the absorption of $HNO_3$ and $H_2SO_4$ into water at the gas-liquid interface, and the neutralization with additive reagents. In this paper, we summarize the technical improvements of each simultaneous abatement processes and the future prospect of technologies for demonstrating large-scaled applications.

• Proceedings of the Korea Air Pollution Research Association Conference
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• 2003.05b
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• pp.79-80
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• 2003

대기중의 유해 에어로솔의 장거리 이동에 대한 과학적인 자료를 마련하기 위해 2002년 8월 27일부터 9월 11일까지 제주도 서쪽 끝에 위치한 고산사이트에서 PM$_{2.5}$와 PM$_{10}$ 에어로솔의 샘플링을 수행하였다. 이로부터 제주도 고산지역 대기 중 PM$_{2.5}$PM/sob 10/의 물리적, 화학적 특성을 파악하고, 유기물 측정 결과를 통한 오염물질의 배출원 추정 및 장거리 이동가능성을 검토하고자 하였다. (중략)(중략)

• Proceedings of the Korea Air Pollution Research Association Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.89-90
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• 2002

대기중의 유해 에어로솔의 장거리 이동에 대한 과학적인 자료를 마련하기 위해 2001년 11월 13일부터 25일까지 제주도 서쪽 끝에 위치한 고산사이트에서 Element/Organic Carbon Analyzer 및 Tapered Element Oscillating Micro-balance의 측정과 PM$_{2.5}$ 에어로솔의 샘플링을 수행하였다. 이로부터 제주도 고산지역 대기 중 PM$_{2.5}$의 물리적, 화학적 특성을 파악하고, 유기물 측정 결과를 통한 유해성물질 배출원 추정 및 장거리 이동가능성을 검토하고자 하였다. (중략)(중략)

• Proceedings of the Korea Air Pollution Research Association Conference
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.147-148
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• 2002

대기중의 유해 에어로솔의 장거리 이동에 대한 과학적인 자료를 마련하기 위해 2002년 3월 29일부터 4월 11일까지 제주도 서쪽 끝에 위치한 고산사이트에서 PM$_{2.5}$와 PM$_{10}$ 에어로솔의 샘플링을 수행하였다. 이로부터 제주도 고산지역 대기 중 PM$_{2.5}$/PM$_{10}$의 물리적, 화학적 특성을 파악하고, 유기물 측정 결과를 통한 오염물질의 배출원 추정 및 장거리 이동가능성을 검토하고자 하였다. (중략)(중략)(중략)

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2004

Agricultural recycling of livestock wastes by composting has lots of beneficial effects on crop production and soil fertility. Most of composts are made from pig manure and water content controller such as saw dust, bark, rice hulls etc. by aerobic processing. But the insufficient supply of saw dust, bark etc. cause the indiscreet use of industrial waste having heavy metals and toxic synthetic chemicals. This research investigated the present quality status of organic by-product fertilizers, and suggested the way of quality interpretation under the statistical approaches based on median, mean and weighted average value. Since the data of one hundred of samples for heavy metal contents (Cd, Pb, Cu, and Cr) and OM/N showed extremely left-skewed distribution, the median was more useful than the mean in representing the characteristics of distribiition for each items. The weighted average value will be a useful index for the quality based on the total amount of producing.

• Prospectives of Industrial Chemistry
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.1-11
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• 2016

우리나라는 1970년대를 기점으로 하여 급격한 경제성장과 산업기술의 발전이 이루어졌다. 경제성장과 함께 주택의 보급 또한 급격하게 증가하게 되었고, 주택의 보급을 위한 건축자재 및 생활용품의 개발이 급속도로 이루어졌다. 이에 따라 실내에서 사용하는 기구 및 건축재료가 매우 다양해졌으며, 이로 인한 새로운 오염물질의 배출이 급격히 증가하게 되었다. 최근 새로운 기술로 소개되고 있는 촉매 산화법의 경우 제거하려는 대상 실내대기오염물질을 촉매를 이용하여 CO₂나 H₂O 등으로 산화시켜 제거하는 방법이며, 최근 많은 연구가 활발하게 수행되고 있다. 촉매를 이용하는 촉매 산화법은 광촉매 산화법과, 촉매의 성능만을 이용하여 대상물질을 산화하는 촉매산화법으로 구분된다. 광촉매 산화법은 특정 파장에서 반응하는 촉매에 자외선을 조사하여 실내오염물질을 산화제거하는 방법으로, 산화성능이 우수하여 여러 가지 실내오염가스에 적용되고 있으나, 별도의 광원이 필요하며, 포름알데히드 산화 시 CO₂와 H₂O 이외에도 dichloroacetyl chloride (C₂HCl₃O), trichloroethylene (C₂HCl₃), phosgene (COCl₂) 등과 같은 부수적인 2차 유해물질이 발생함에 따라 이를 처리하기 위한 대책이 수반되어야 한다. 반면, 촉매 산화법의 경우 별도의 광원이나 에너지원 없이, 촉매를 이용하여 대기오염물질을 인체에 무해한 물질로 완전 산화시키는 방법으로써, 최근 많은 연구가 수행되어 상온에서 구동 가능한 촉매가 개발되었고, 이의 연구가 활발히 이루어지고 있다. 이에 상온산화촉매기술의 연구동향 및 사례를 확인하고, 향후 상온산화촉매기술이 나아가야 할 방향을 제시하고자 한다. 본 연구는 환경부 환경산업선진화기술개발사업의 지원을 받아 수행되었습니다(2016000140004).

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.123-133
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• 2023

Wastewater generated in the secondary battery production process contains lithium and high-concentration sulfate. Recently, as demand as demand for high-Ni precursors with high-energy density has surged, nickel emission is also a concern. Lithium and sulfate are not included in the current water pollutant discharge standard, so if they are not properly processed and discharged, the negative effect on future environment may be great. Therefore, in this study, the ecotoxicity of lithium, nickel, and sulfate, which are potential contaminants that can be discharged from the secondary battery production process, was evaluated using water flea (Daphnia magna) and luminescent bacteria (Aliivibrio fischeri). As a result of the ecotoxicity test, 24-hour and 48-hour D. magna EC₅₀ values of lithium were 18.2mg/L and 14.5mg/L, nickel EC50 values were 7.2mg/L and 5.4mg/L, and sulfate EC₅₀ values were 4,605.5mg/L and 4,345.0mg/L, respectively. In the case of D. magna, it was found that there was a difference in ecotoxicity according to the contaminants and exposure time (24 hours, 48 hours). Comparing the EC₅₀ of D. magna for lithium, nickel, and sulfate, the EC₅₀ of nickel at 24h and 48h was 39.6-37.2% compared to lithium and 0.1-0.2% compared to sulfate, which was the most toxic among the three substances. The difference appeared to be at a similarlevelregardless of the exposure time. The EC₅₀ of sulfate was 253.0-299.7% and 639.5-804.6%, respectively, compared to lithium and nickel, showing the least toxicity among the three substances. The 30-minute EC₅₀ values of luminescent bacteria forlithium, nickel, and sulfate were 2,755.8mg/L, 7.4mg/L, and 66,047.3mg/L,respectively. Unlike nickel, it was confirmed that there was a difference in sensitivity between D. magna and A. fischeri bacteria to lithium and sulfate. Studies on the mixture toxicity of these substances are needed.