• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.705-715
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• 2010

The adoption of carbon foot print system is being activated mostly in the developed countries as one of the long-term response towards tightened up regulations and standards on carbon emission in the agricultural sector. The Korean Ministry of Environment excluded the primary agricultural products from the carbon foot print system due to lack of LCI (life cycle inventory) database in agriculture. Therefore, the research on and establishment of LCI database in the agriculture for adoption of carbon foot print system is urgent. Development of LCA (life cycle assessment) methodology for application of LCA to agricultural environment in Korea is also very important. Application of LCA methodology to agricultural environment in Korea is an early stage. Therefore, this study was carried out to find out the effect of lettuce cultivation on agricultural environment by establishing LCA methodology. Data collection of agricultural input and output for establishing LCI was carried out by collecting statistical data and documents on income from agro and livestock products prepared by RDA. LCA methodology for agriculture was reviewed by investigating LCA methodology and LCA applications of foreign countries. Results based on 1 kg of lettuce production showed that inputs including N, P, organic fertilizers, compound fertilizers and crop protectants were the main sources of major emission factor during lettuce cropping process. The amount of inputs considering the amount of active ingredients was required to estimate the actual quantity of the inputs used. Major emissions due to agricultural activities were $N_2O$ (emission to air) and ${NO_3}^-$/${PO_4}^-$ (emission to water) from fertilizers, organic compounds from pesticides and air pollutants from fossil fuel combustion in using agricultural machines. The softwares for LCIA (life cycle impact assessment) and LCA used in Korea are 'PASS' and 'TOTAL' which have been developed by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy and the Ministry of Environment. However, the models used for the softwares are the ones developed in foreign countries. In the future, development of models and optimization of factors for characterization, normalization and weighting suitable to Korean agricultural environment need to be done for more precise LCA analysis in the agricultural area.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.42-50
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• 2009

Samples of subway dust were collected by the air filter system of 30 subway stations on Daegu subway line 1 in January 2008. Samples were sieved below 100 ${\mu}m$, and 14 elements were analyzed using ICP after acid extraction. Results obtained from the source assessment of trace elements using enrichment factor showed that Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, V were influenced by natural sources such as weathered rock and resuspended soil, while Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn were influenced by anthropogenic sources such as fuel combustion and waste incineration. Concentrations were remarkably higher in components from natural sources than in components from anthropogenic sources. Anthropogenic sources were significantly affected by indoor dusts than outdoor dusts. Results of pollution indices of heavy metals indicated that indoor dusts were more contaminated with heavy metal ions than outdoor dusts. The correlation analysis among trace elements indicated that components were much correlated in the order of natural sources-anthropogenic sources, anthropogenic sources-anthropogenic sources, natural sources-natural sources in both indoor and outdoor dusts. Trace element components of outdoor dusts were largely correlated than those of indoor dusts. In addition, indoor dusts were significantly affected by outdoor dusts rather than depth from the surface or the average daily number of subway passengers.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.152-168
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• 2019

The element arsenic, which is abundant in the Earth's crust, is used for various industrial purposes including materials for disease treatment and household goods. Various human activities, such as the disposal of soil waste, metal mining and smelting, and combustion of fossil fuels, have caused the pollution of the environment with arsenic. Recently, guidelines for arsenic in rice have been adopted by the Korean ministry of food and drug safety to prevent health risks based on rice consumption. Because of the exposure to arsenic and its accumulation in the human body through various channels, such as air inhalation, skin contact, ingestion of drinking water, and food consumption, integrated multimedia risk assessment is required to adopt appropriate risk management policies. Therefore, integrated human health risk assessment was carried out in this study using integrated exposure assessment based on multimedia (e.g., air, water, and soil) and multi-route (e.g., oral, inhalation, and dermal) scenarios. The results show that oral uptake via drinking water is the most common pathway of arsenic into the human body, accounting for 57%-96% of the total arsenic exposure. Among various age groups, the highest exposures to arsenic were observed in infants because the body weight of infants is low and the surface areas of infant bodies are large. Based on the results of the exposure assessment, the cancer and non-cancer risks were calculated. The cancer risk for CTE and RME is in the range of 2.3E-05 to 6.7E-05 and thus is negligible because it does not exceed the cancer probability of 1.0E-04 for all age groups. On the other hand, the cancer risk for RME varies from 6.4E-05 to 1.8E-04 and from 1.3E-04 to 1.8E-04 for infants and preschool children, exceeding the excess cancer risk of 1.0E-04. The non-cancer risks range from 5.4E-02 to 1.9E-01 and from 1.5E-01 to 6.8E-01, respectively. They do not exceed the hazard index 1 for all scenarios and all ages.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2019

Sources of NOx are both anthropogenic (e.g. fossil fuel combustion, vehicles, and other industrial processes) and natural (e.g. lightning, biogenic soil processes, and wildfires). The nitrogen stable isotope ratio of NOx has been proposed as an indicator for NOx source partitioning, which would help identify the contributions of various NOx sources. In this study, the ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$ values of vehicle emissions were measured in an urban region, to understand the sources and processes that influence the isotopic composition of NOx emissions. The Ogawa passive air sampler was used to determine the isotopic composition of $NO_2$(g). In urban tunnels, the observed $NO_2$ concentration and ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$ values averaged $3809{\pm}2656ppbv$ and $7.7{\pm}1.8$‰, respectively. The observed ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$ values are associated with slight regional variations in the vehicular $NO_2$ source. Both $NO_2$ concentration and ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$ values were significantly higher near the expressway ($965{\pm}125ppbv$ and $5.9{\pm}1.4$‰) than at 1.1 km from the expressway ($372{\pm}96ppbv$ and $-11.5{\pm}2.9$‰), indicating a high proportion of vehicle emissions. Ambient ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$ values were used in a binary mixing model to estimate the percentage of the ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$ value contributed by vehicular NOx emissions. The calculated percentage of the ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$ contribution by vehicles was significantly higher close to the highway, as observed for the $NO_2$ concentration and ${\delta}^{15}N-NO_2$.

• Proceedings of the KOR-BRONCHOESO Conference
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• 1972.03a
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• pp.6-7
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• 1972

The air pollutants can be classified into the irritant gas and the asphixation gas, and the irritant gas is closely related to the otorhinolaryngological diseases. The common irritant gases are nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, hydrogen carbon compounds, and the potent and irritating PAN (peroxy acyl nitrate) which is secondarily liberated from photosynthesis. Those gases adhers to the mucous membrane to result in ulceration and secondary infection due to their potent oxidizing power. 1. Sulfur dioxide gas Sulfur dioxide gas has the typical characteristics of the air pollutants. Because of its high solubility it gets easily absorbed in the respiratory tract, when the symptoms and signs by irritation become manifested initially and later the resistance in the respiratory tract brings central about pulmonary edema and respiratory paralysis of origin. Chronic exposure to the gas leads to rhinitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis, and olfactory or gustatory disturbances. 2. Carbon monoxide Toxicity of carbon monoxide is due to its deprivation of the oxygen carrying capacity of the hemoglobin. The degree of the carbon monoxide intoxication varies according to its concentration and the duration of inhalation. It starts with headache, vertigo, nausea, vomiting and tinnitus, which can progress to respiratory difficulty, muscular laxity, syncope, and coma leading to death. 3. Nitrogen dioxide Nitrogen dioxide causes respiratory disturbances by formation of methemoglobin. In acute poisoning, it can cause pulmonary congestion, pulmonary edema, bronchitis, and pneumonia due to its strong irritation on the eyes and the nose. In chronic poisoning, it causes chronic pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary edema. 4. Ozone It has offending irritating odor, and causes dryness of na sopharyngolaryngeal mucosa, headache and depressed pulmonary function which may eventually lead to pulmonary congestion or edema. 5. Smog The most outstanding incident of the smog occurred in London from December 5 through 8, 1952, because of which the mortality of the respiratory diseases increased fourfold. The smog was thought to be due to the smoke produced by incomplete combustion and its byproduct the sulfur oxides, and the dust was thought to play the secondary role. In new sense, hazardous is the photochemical smog which is produced by combination of light energy and the hydrocarbons and oxidant in the air. The Yonsei University Institute for Environmental :pollution Research launched a project to determine the relationship between the pollution and the medical, ophthalmological and rhinopharyngological disorders. The students (469) of the "S" Technical School in the most heavily polluted area in Pusan (Uham Dong district) were compared with those (345) of "K" High School in the less polluted area. The investigated group had those with subjective symptoms twice as much as the control group, 22.6% (106) in investigated group and 11.3% (39) in the control group. Among those symptomatic students of the investigated group. There were 29 with respiratory symptoms (29%), 22 with eye symptoms (21%), 50 with stuffy nose and rhinorrhea (47%), and 5 with sore thorat (5%), which revealed that more than half the students (52%) had subjective symptoms of the rhinopharyngological aspects. Physical examination revealed that the investigated group had more number of students with signs than those of the control group by 10%, 180 (38.4%) versus 99 (28.8%). Among the preceding 180 students of the investigated group, there were 8 with eye diseases (44%), 1 with respiratory disease (0.6%), 97 with rhinitis (54%), and 74 with pharyngotonsillitis (41%) which means that 95% of them had rharygoical diseases. The preceding data revealed that the otolaryngological diseases are conspicuously outnumbered in the heavily polluted area, and that there must be very close relationship between the air pollution and the otolaryngological diseases, and the anti-pollution measure is urgently needed.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.665-676
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• 2003

To investigate the chemical characteristics of PM$\_$2.5/ in Seoul, Korea, atmospheric particulate matters were collected using a PM$\_$10/ dichotomous sampler including PM$\_$10/ and PM$\_$2.5/ inlet during the period of October 2000 to September 2001. The Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectromety (ICP-MS), ion Chromatography (IC) methods were used to determine the concentration of both metal and ionic species. A statistical analysis was performed for the heavy metals data set using a principal component analysis (PCA) to derived important factors inherent in the interactions among the variables. The mean concentrations of ambient PM$\_$2.5/ and PM/sub10/ were 24.47 and 45.27 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥, respectively. PM$\_$2.5/ masses also showed temporal variations both yearly and seasonally. The ratios of PM$\_$2.5/PM$\_$10/ was 0.54, which similar to the value of 0.60 in North America. Soil-related chemical components (such as Al, Ca, Fe, Si, and Mn) were abundant in PM$\_$10/, while anthropogenic components (such as As, Cd, Cr, V, Zn and Pb) were abundant in PM2s. Total water soluble ions constituted 30∼50 % of PM$\_$2.5/ mass, and sulfate, nitrate and ammonium were main components in water soluble ions. Reactive farms of NH$_4$$\^$+/were considered as NH$_4$NO$_3$ and (NH$_4$)$_2$SO$_4$ during the sampling periods. In the results of PCA for PM$\_$2.5/, we identified three principal components. Major contribution to PM$\_$2.5/ seemed to be soil, oil combustion, unidentified source. Further study, the detailed interpretation of these data will need efforts in order to identify emission sources.

• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.34-45
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• 2016

Global warming and climate change have been caused by combustion of fossil fuels. The greenhouse gases contributed to the rise of temperature between $0.6^{\circ}C$ and $0.9^{\circ}C$ over the past century. Presently, fossil fuels account for about 88% of the commercial energy sources used. In developing countries, fossil fuels are a very attractive energy source because they are available and relatively inexpensive. The environmental problems with fossil fuels have been aggravating stress from already existing factors including acid deposition, urban air pollution, and climate change. In order to control greenhouse gas emissions, particularly CO2, fossil fuels must be replaced by eco-friendly fuels such as biomass. The use of renewable energy sources is becoming increasingly necessary. The biomass resources are the most common form of renewable energy. The conversion of biomass into energy can be achieved in a number of ways. The most common form of converted biomass is pellet fuels as biofuels made from compressed organic matter or biomass. Pellets from lignocellulosic biomass has compared to conventional fuels with a relatively low bulk and energy density and a low degree of homogeneity. Thermal pretreatment technology like torrefaction is applied to improve fuel efficiency of lignocellulosic biomass, i.e., less moisture and oxygen in the product, preferrable grinding properties, storage properties, etc.. During torrefacton, lignocelluosic biomass such as palm kernell shell (PKS) and empty fruit bunch (EFB) was roasted under an oxygen-depleted enviroment at temperature between 200 and $300^{\circ}C$. Low degree of thermal treatment led to the removal of moisture and low molecular volatile matters with low O/C and H/C elemental ratios. The mechanical characteristics of torrefied biomass have also been altered to a brittle and partly hydrophobic materials. Unfortunately, it was much harder to form pellets from torrefied PKS and EFB due to thermal degradation of lignin as a natural binder during torrefaction compared to non-torrefied ones. For easy pelletization of biomass with torrefaction, pellets from PKS and EFB were manufactured before torrefaction, and thereafter they were torrefied at different temperature. Even after torrefaction of pellets from PKS and EFB, their appearance was well preserved with better fuel efficiency than non-torrefied ones. The physical properties of the torrefied pellets largely depended on the torrefaction condition such as reaction time and reaction temperature. Temperature over $250^{\circ}C$ during torrefaction gave a significant impact on the fuel properties of the pellets. In particular, torrefied EFB pellets displayed much faster development of the fuel properties than did torrefied PKS pellets. During torrefaction, extensive carbonization with the increase of fixed carbons, the behavior of thermal degradation of torrefied biomass became significantly different according to the increase of torrefaction temperature. In conclusion, pelletization of PKS and EFB before torrefaction made it much easier to proceed with torrefaction of pellets from PKS and EFB, leading to excellent eco-friendly fuels.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.751-755
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• 2005

Carbon dioxide, included in the flue gas from the combustion of fossil fuel, was known as a representative green house gas and various removal and utilization technologies of it has been studied for the prevention of global warming. This study was performed as an effort to find out a method to reuse carbon dioxide separated from flue gas by magnetite powder. Magnetite powder was synthesized using various oxidizers and alkalinity controlled aqueous solutions of $FeSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$ and NaOH at 50, 80, 90, $100^{\circ}C$ and analyzed by XRD and SEM. The analysis results showed that magnetite powder synthesized at higher alkalinity and temperature had crystalline spinel and cubic structure. The reduction by hydrogen and the oxidation by carbon dioxide of synthesized powder were studied by TGA. The results showed that magnetite powder synthesized at low alkalinity and temperature was non-cubical amorphous but crystalline and cubical at high alkalinity and temperature. Comparing magnetite powders synthesized using oxidants(air and oxygen) and nitrogen, magnetite powder using more oxygen containing oxidant synthesized more crystalline magnetite powder. The experimental results of redox reaction of the synthesized magnetite powder showed that the reduction by hydrogen and the oxidation by carbon dioxide were seldom observed below $400^{\circ}C$ and observed well at $500^{\circ}C$. Magnetite powder synthesized at $100^{\circ}C$ and alkalinity(molal concentration ratio of $FeSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O$ to NaOH) of 2.0 using $O_2$ showed the highest reduction of 27.15 wt％ and oxidation of 26.73 wt％, especially at reaction temperature of $500^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.275-281
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• 2018

It is known that he pollutant emitted from the combustion process of marine fuel oil causes air pollution and harmful effects to the human body. Accordingly, IMO regulates pollutants emitted from ships. However, the regulation of Particulate Matter (PM) is still in the process of debate, so preemptive action is needed. Fundamental research on PM is essential. In this study, the Dimensionless Light Extinction Constant ($K_e$) of fuel oil used in marine diesel engines was measured and analyzed to construct the basic data of the PM generated from marine-based fuel oil. The fuel oil used in the land diesel engine was measured in the same way for character comparison. Both fuel oils differ in sulfur content and density. The $K_e$ was measured via the optical method using a 633 nm laser and was determined by using the volume fraction of PM collected by the gravimetric filter method. The $K_e$ of the PM discharged from marine fuel oil is 8.28, and the land fuel oil is 8.44. The $K_e$ of two fuel oils was similar within the measurement uncertainty range. However, it was found by comparison with the value obtained by the Rayleigh-Limit solution that the light scattering portion could be large. Also, it was found that light extinction characteristics could be different due to the relationship between light transmittance and collected mass.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.26-32
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• 2001

Influence of various rates of fractionated raw cow manure on hydraulic conductivity of the soil was observed. The fractionated raw cow manure(hereafter as FRCM) incorporated into soil. The hydraulic conductivity was measured for the double-layered soil while maintaining the water head by 5 cm over the soil surface. The influence on the mobility of $NO_3{^-}$-N transformed from the FRCM was analyzed. The upper layers (Wolgok series) were made with FRCM ranging from 0% to 10.4 % on weight basis for air-dried soil while the organic matter in the bottom layers (Chungwon series) was removed by combustion. The initial bulk densities for both layers were adjusted to $1.25g\;cm^{-3}$. In this experiment the $K_{sat}$ for the upper layer gradually decreased from $4.71{\times}10^{-3}cm\;min^{-1}$ to $1.2{\times}10^{-3}cm\;min^{-1}$ with increasing the rate of the FRCM from 0 % to 10.4%, while the Ksat of the bottom layer was maintained as $3.7cm\;min^{-1}$. For the double-layered soil columns, the $K_{sat}$ decreased with increasing rate of FRCM at the upper layer from $1.7{\times}10^{-3}cm\;min^{-1}$ to $8{\times}10^{-4}cm\;min^{-1}$ as the rate of organic matter increased from 0 % to 10.4 %, while it took almost 7 days to 64 days to obtain the steady state $K_{sat}$ The elution patterns of $NO_3{^-}$-N and $NH_4{^+}$-N showed that the amounts of both $NO_3{^-}$-N and $NH_4{^+}$-N rapidly approached to the maximum ranging from $14.8mmol_c\;kg^{-1}$ to $0.58mmol_c\;kg^{-1}$ as the rate of FRCM decreased from 10.7 % to 0 % which is equivalent to indigenous amount of $NO_3{^-}$-N and $NH_4{^+}$-N. And the amounts of $NO_3{^-}$-N were approximately three or four time than those of $NH_4{^+}$-N, indicating that the transformation rate of $NO_3{^-}$-N was improved by the higher FRCM rate. Thus, the ability of a soil to supply N can be predicted from its mineralization parameters and leaching potentials influenced by water flow regime in soil.