• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.235-243
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• 2021

This study was conducted to investigate the growth of Dendranthema zawadskii in damaged soils when they are treated with improvement agents. The treatments consisted of a control (unamended field soil) and the application of a loess ball of 1 cm to the field soil. According to the degree of damage the de-icing agent had caused, the soils were divided into 3 areas (based on the yellowing of Pinus densiflora for. multicaulis in soil surveys): H (high saline), M (medium saline), and L (low saline). A total of six treatments were performed: D. zawadskiia plant without soil amendment (H; high saline soil, M; medium saline soil, L; low saline soil), and a D. zawadskiia plant with loess ball on the soil surface (H.L; high saline soil with loess ball, M.L; medium saline soil with loess ball, L.L; low saline soil with loess ball). The results showed that D. zawadskiia growth went from highest to lowest in the order: M.L > L.L > M > L > H.L > H. Plant growth results showed that soils treated with soil amendments (loess ball) were better for D. zawadskii growth than untreated soils.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

This study assessed the feasibility of iron oxide nanoparticles impregnated with biochar (INPBC), derived from woody biomass, as a stabilizing agent for the stabilization of farmland soil in the vicinity of an abandoned mine through pot experiments with 28 days of lettuce growth. The lettuce grown in the INPBC amended soils increased by more than 100% and the concentrations of inorganic elements (Cu, Ni, Zn) decreased by more than 40%. As, Cd and Pb were not transferred properly from the soils to the lettuce biomass. The bioavailability of arsenic and heavy metals in the INPBC amended soils were decreased by 26%~50%. It seems that the major mechanisms of stabilization were arsenic adsorption on iron oxides, heavy metal precipitation by soil pH increasing and heavy metal adsorption on organic matter. These results revealed that the lower bioavailability of the inorganic pollutants in the soils stabilized using INPBC induced lower transfer to the lettuce. Thus, INPBC could be used as an amendment material for the stabilization of farmland soils contaminated by arsenic and heavy metals. However, a pre-review of the chemical properties of the amended soil must be performed prior to applying INPBC in farmland soil because the concentration of the nutrients in the soil such as available phosphates and exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, K) could be decreased due to adsorption on the surface of the iron oxides and organic matter.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.79-84
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• 2008

This paper describes the application of bioluminescence stimulating agents on a genetically engineered microorganism, Pseudomonas putida mt-2 KG1206, to monitor toluene analogs using in groundwater samples from petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated sites. The maximum bioluminescent response with pure chemicals followed in the order: m-methyl benzyl alchohol > m-toluate > toluene > m-xylene > benzoate > p-xylene > o-xylene. Generally, the bioluminescence production of strain mixed with groundwater samples was dependent on the contaminated total inducer concentrations. However, few samples showed opposite results, where these phenomena may be caused by the complexicity of environmental samples. Two chemicals, SL(sodium lactate) and KNO$_3$, were tested to determine a better bioluminescence stimulant. Both chemicals stimulate the bioluminescence activity of strain KG1206, however, a slightly high bioluminescence was observed with nitrogen chemical. This selected stimulant was then tested on samples collected from contaminated groundwater samples. The bioluminescence activity of all samples mixed with the strain was stimulated with KNO$_3$ amendment. This suggests that the low bioluminescence activity exhibited by the environmental groundwater samples can be stimulated by amending the culture with a proper agent, such as nitrogen compound. These findings would be useful, especially, when strain was used to monitor the groundwater samples contaminated with low inducer contaminants. Overall, the results of this study found the ability of bioluminescence producing bacteria to biosensor a specific group of environmental contaminants, and suggest the potential for more efficient preliminary application of this engineered strain in a field-ready bioassay.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.298-309
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• 2019

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate stages of safety and health culture change through a reflection on 40 years of hearing conservation history at a multinational company. Methods: The target workplaces were multinational companies with more than 1,000 employees. The research used the clinical case study and system analysis methods based on direct observation of the research from 1994 to 2009. The latter method performed an analysis of the equilibrium state of the cross-section in the given period and the longitudinal profile of the change during the given period. Results: The stages of cultural change are divided into five stages and summarized as follows. In the first stage, workplace noise was not widely recognized as a hazard, while in the second stage, the measurement of noise levels and audiometric testing were conducted under the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Act (KOSHA). The driving force for change in the second stage was the amendment of the KOSHA. In the third stage, noise came to be recognized as a hazard factor through awareness training. The driving force of change during the third stage was the strong executive power exerted by the audit of the industrial hygiene program from the US head office. In the fourth step, there was a change to actually reduce noise. The driving force in this stage was a change in company executives' risk perception resulting from lawsuits over noise-induced hearing loss and the task force team activities for culture change based on the action learning protocol. At the fifth stage, a 'buy quiet policy' was institutionalized. The management's experience that noise reduction was difficult was the motivation to manage noise from the time of purchase of equipment. Conclusions: The activities of a hearing conservation program are determined by the improvement of the legal system and by the way it is enforced. Noise control activities to reduce noise areas may be possible through the shared risk perception of noise-induced hearing loss and by a change agent role as a facilitator to implement noise control.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.324-330
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• 2018

In accordance with the amendment of the Industrial Safety and Health Act of 2007, Korea completely prohibited the import, distribution and manufacture of asbestos like Europe and Japan. Accordingly, the current problem of asbestos is the safe maintenance and disposal of asbestos construction material, the disposal of asbestos, and the final disposal of asbestos building materials. In the past, Korea used 100,000 tons of asbestos every year, and the building materials using it exceeded 1 million tons per year. These asbestos building materials continued to be used until 2006, and the Ministry predicted that these materials would continue to be maintained until 2044. When the permeable hardening agent is applied to the asbestos building material installed in the pre-pretreatment step for the harmless treatment of the asbestos waste and the dismantling is carried out, the scattering of the asbestos is suppressed in the disassembling step, detoxification treatment conditions can be improved. Therefore, permeable hardeners should be stably penetrated into asbestos building materials. In this study, it is suggested that pre - pretreatment methods for the harmlessization of waste asbestos building materials with medium density level can be presented. In order to efficiently perform pre - treatment for chemical harmlessness in the future, the mixing ratio of permeable hardener and middle water Optimization is the most important factor.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.191-199
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• 2000

This study was initiated to investigate the influence of biophysical condition on the composting characteristics, and conducted to develop technology for using recycled compost as a bulking agent cost to reduce operating cost. To methods of aeration, continuous aeration (CA: run No. I) and intermittent aeration (IA: run No. 2) were performed with three 12.3 liter laboratory scale vessels for ten days. Manure and rice hulls were mixed for thirst trial (I), rice hulls and recycled compost after first trial were mixed for second trial (II), dairy manure and only recycled compost after second trial were mixed for third trial (III). During the composting process, temperatures of the compost mass and ammonia emissions were measured. The quality and maturity of compost were ascertained by examining the characteristics and composition of the compost. Also, loss of mass was determined by measuring the mass of materials in the vessels before and after composting. The results in this study are as follows: 1. The periods of optimum temperature ($>55^{\circ}C$) to kill pathogens were maintained from 38 to 78 hours for CA and from 60 to 98 hours for IA. 2. The more recycled compost mixed, the more ammonia emitted. The maximum ammonia emissions were 287 ppm at CA and 420 ppm at IA. 3. Biofiltration system was required for the compo sting system using only recycled compost as an amendment, because the ammonia emissions was produced above 100 ppm at the end of composting process. 4. The quality and maturity of compost: - Fresh compost, were required drying, because moisture contents of the compost were approximately 70% in all tests. - The pH values were observed to rise smoothly, from 7.9 to 8.3 at CA and from 8.4 to 8.6 at IA. The CfN ratios of the fresh compost were ranged form 21.05 to 16.42 for CA and from 22.81 to 14.75 for IA. The final C/N ratios for test II and III were below 20.were below 20.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.350-362
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• 2020

In this study, nano Fe°-impregnated biochar (INPBC) was prepared using pruning residues and one-pot synthetic method and evaluated its performance as an amendment agent for the stabilization of arsenic-contaminated soil. For the preparation of INPBC, the mixture of pruning residue and Fe (III) solution was heated to 220℃ for 3hr in a teflon-sealed autoclave followed by calcination at 600℃ under N₂ atmosphere for 1hr. As-prepared INPBC was characterized using FT-IR, XRD, BET, SEM. For the stabilization test of as-prepared INPBC, As-contaminated soils (Soil-E and Soil-S) sampled from agricultural sites located respectively near E-abandoned mine and S-abandoned mine in South Korea were mixed with different of dosage of INPBC and cultivated for 4 weeks. After treatment, TCLP and SPLP tests were conducted to determine the stabilization efficiency of As in soil and showed that the stabilization efficiency was increased with increasing the INPBC dosage and the concentration of As in SPLP extractant of Soil-E was lower than the drinking water standard level of Ministry of Environment of South Korea. The sequential fractionation of As in the stabilized soils indicated that the fractions of As in the 1st and 2nd stages that correspond liable and known as bioavailable fraction were decreased and the fractions of As in 3rd and 4th stages that correspond relatively non-liable fraction were increased. Such a stabilization of As shows that the abundant nano Fe° on the surface of INPBC mixed with As-contaminated soils played the co-precipitation of As leaching from soil by surface complexation with iron. The results of this study may imply that INPBC as a promising amendments for the stabilization of As-contaminated soil play an important role.