• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.29-32
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• 2017

Ozone concentration in Tokyo Metropolitan area is one of the most serious issues of the local air quality. Tropospheric ozone is formed by radical reaction including volatile organic compound (VOC) and nitrogen oxides ($NO_x$). Reduction of the emission of reactive VOC is a key to reducing ozone concentrations. VOC is emitted from anthropogenic sources and also from vegetation (biogenic VOC or BVOC). BVOC also forms ozone through $NO_x$ and radical reactions. Especially, in urban area, the BVOC is emitted into the atmosphere with high $NO_x$ concentration. Therefore, trees bordering streets and green spaces in urban area may contribute to tropospheric ozone. On the other hand, not all trees emit BVOC which will produce ozone locally. In this study, BVOC emissions have been investigated (terpenoids: isoprene, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes) for 29 tree species. Eleven in the 29 species were tree species that did not emit BVOCs. Three in 12 cultivars for future planting (25 %) were found to emit no terpenoid BVOCs. Eight in 17 commonly planted trees (47%) were found to emit no terpenoid BVOC. Lower-emitting species have many advantages for urban planting. Therefore, further investigation is required to find the species which do not emit terpenoid BVOC. Emission of reactive BVOC should be added into guideline for the urban planting to prevent the creation of sources of ozone. It is desirable that species with no reactive BVOC emission are planted along urban streets and green areas in urban areas, such as Tokyo.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.325-336
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• 2006

The presence of volatile organic compounds (VOC), produced and released from both anthropogenic and natural sources, can accelerate the degradation of air quality in the surrounding area. In this study, we investigated the emission concentrations of VOC based on a total of 115 sample analysis made from 47 companies (representing 17 types of industry) at the Ban Wall industrial complex (Jun. 2004 to Jan. 2005). Through a statistical analysis of these measurement data, we inspected the emission characteristics of VOC in relation with industrial type and processing unit. When these data were compared each other, toluene was found to record the highest value of 423 ppb followed by ethylbenzene (68.3 ppb), m, p-xylene (43.6 ppb), o-xylene (27.2 ppb), styrene (23.9 ppb), and benzene (16.4 pub). In addition, by converting these VOC concentration data into malodor intensity, we attempted to account for their distribution patterns in terms of relative contribution to the malodor formation. The results of odor intensity conversion generally indicated that the odor intensities of individual VOC do not exceed the degree of 1. When our VOC results were compared against other odorous compounds measured concurrently, the results were highly contrasting each other. Despite relative insignificance as odorous compounds, these VOCs are generally found ubiquitously and in abundant quantities in this strong source area.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.463-476
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• 2017

Climate change is considered as the greatest threat to our future and descendants. The Korean government has set a target for 2030 to reduce emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 37% from the business-as-usual levels which are projected to reach 851 million metric tons of $CO_2eq$ (Carbon dioxide equivalent). In Korea, GHGs emission from agriculture account for almost 3.1% of the total of anthropogenic GHGs. The GHGs emitted from agricultural land are largely classified into three types: carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), methane ($CH_4$), and nitrous oxide ($N_2O$). In Korea, rice paddies are one of the largest agricultural $CH_4$ sources. In order to analyze domestic research trends related to $CH_4$ emission from rice paddies, 93 academic publications including peer reviewed journals, books, working papers, reports, etc., published from 1995 to September 2017, were critically reviewed. The results were classified according to the research purposes. $CH_4$ characteristics and assessment were found to account for approximately 65.9% of the research trends, development of $CH_4$ emission factors for 9.5%, $CH_4$ emission reduction technology for 14.8%, and $CH_4$ emission modeling for 6.3%, etc. A number of research related to $CH_4$ emission characteristics and assessment have been studied in recent years, whereas further study on $CH_4$ emission factors are required to determine an accurate country-specific GHG emission from rice paddies. Future research should be directed toward both studies for reducing the release of $CH_4$ from rice paddies to the atmosphere and the understanding of the major controlling factors affecting $CH_4$ emission.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.1087-1091
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• 2006

This paper describes the current spatial patterns of the net primary productivity (NPP) of the terrestrial vegetation and carbon emission (C) in the world due to the burning of fossil fuels in order to clarify the amount of expansion of human activity. The C/NPP value varies spatially from almost zero to several tens of thousand times the local NPP. C/NPP is higher under the condition of extensive human activities due to a high human population density or when the local NPP is extremely low in severe climatic zones. In contrast, the low C/NPP areas are distributed mainly in sparsely populated districts, loading to a low impact of human activity. Although the area where C/NPP is less than 10% accounts for about 70% of the entire land area, one-third of these areas cannot contribute to carbon absorption because of low NPP with a shortage of climatic resources. Since more than half of the areas of the remaining areas are agricultural land and forest ecosystems with high NPP, the possible afforestation area was evaluated to be maximum of $30{\times}10^{6}\;km^{2}$; here only sequestrate carbons that correspond to 2% of the global total NPP are present. These analyses revealed that presently most of the areas where the NPP is high are those exclusively used by humans and that it is difficult for large-scale forest plantations to absorb a substantial amount of the carbon emitted annually by humans.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.729-739
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• 2017

The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and Vegetation Photosynthesis and Respiration Model (VPRM) were coupled to simulate atmospheric $CO_2$ concentrations. The performance of the WRF-VPRM to simulate regional scale $CO_2$ concentration was estimated over coastal basin areas. Either Hestia 2011(HST) or Vulcan 2002(VUL) anthropogenic $CO_2$ emission data were used in two numerical experiments for the study regions. Simulated meteorological variables were validated with ground and background $CO_2$ measurement data, and the results show that the model captured temporal variations of $CO_2$ concentration on a daily basis. $CO_2$ directional analysis revealed that the dominant $CO_2$ emission sources are located S and SW. The simulated Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) agreed relatively well with measured $CO_2$ fluxes at each vegetation class site, showing approximately 40% at max improvement at shrub areas.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.147-162
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• 2020

The main objective of this study is to estimate the levels of pollution to which the community is presently exposed and to model the regimes of local air quality. Diurnal, daily, and monthly variations of NO, NO₂, SO₂, and O₃ were thoroughly investigated in three areas; namely, residential, industrial, and terminal in Ras Al-Khafji. There is obvious diurnal variation in the concentration of these pollutants that clearly follows the diurnal variation of atmospheric temperature and main anthropogenic and industrial activities. Correlation analysis showed that meteorological conditions play a vital role in shaping the pattern and transportation of air pollutants and photochemical processes affecting O₃ formation and destruction. Bivariate polar plots, an effective graphical tool that utilizes air pollutant concentrations' dependence on wind speed and wind direction, were used to identify prevailing emission sources. Non-buoyant ground-level sources like domestic heating and street transport emissions, various industrial stacks, and airport-related activities were considered dominant emission sources in observatory sites. This study offers valuable and detailed information on the status of air quality, which has considerable, quantifiable, and important public health benefits.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.14
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• pp.349-370
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• 2000

The environmental problems such as global climate change, global waming, ozone depletion, environmental pollution have been caused by the rapid economic growth, increasing in use of fossil fuels for industrialization and scientific technology development. Especially human activities are significantly altering the atomosphere's composition and its radiative properties. To Stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system, the international community adopted the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992 and Kyoto protocol in 1997. Also to protect ozone layer the international community adopted the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer in 1985, and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 1987. To achieve global environmental objectives, some multilateral environmental agreements includes trade regulation. For example, Montreal Protocol includes the provisions to regulate the world trade of the sudstances which might destroy ozone layer. However Kyoto Protocol has no provisions to regulate trade and is not in force yet. Although there is no trade regulation article in Kyoto Protocol, the international world trade will be influenced by limitation and reduction of CO2 and strengthening the CO2 emission standard for import good. For example Korean car industy agreed with EU to reduce CO2 emission from new passenger car and Korean Semiconductor industry agreed with WSC(World Semiconductor Council) to reduce PFCs in 1999.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.335-343
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• 2012

Mercury is emitted to the atmosphere from various natural and anthropogenic sources, and degrades with difficulty in the environment. Mercury exists as various species, mainly elemental ($Hg^0$) and divalent ($Hg^{2+}$) mercury depending on its oxidation states in air and water. Mercury emitted to the atmosphere can be deposited into aqueous environments by wet and dry depositions, and some can be re-emitted into the atmosphere. The deposited mercury species, mainly $Hg^{2+}$, can react with various organic compounds in water and sediment by biotic reactions mediated by sulfur-reducing bacteria, and abiotic reactions mediated by sunlight photolysis, resulting in conversion into organic mercury such as methylmercury (MeHg). MeHg can be bioaccumulated through the food web in the ecosystem, finally exposing humans who consume fish. For a better understanding of how humans are exposed to mercury in the environment, this review paper summarizes the mechanisms of emission, fate and transport, speciation chemistry, bioaccumulation, levels of contamination in environmental media, and finally exposure assessment of humans.

• Journal of the Korean Medical Association
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• v.61 no.12
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• pp.749-755
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• 2018

Particulate matter is an air pollutant emitted from both natural and anthropogenic sources, and its adverse health effects have been well documented in time-series analyses and cohort studies. The effect size of particulate matter exposure-a roughly 0.5% increase in mortality for each $10{\mu}g/m^3$ increment of short-term exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ${\leq}10{\mu}m$ and approximately a 10% increase for each $10{\mu}g/m^3$ increment of long-term exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ${\leq}2.5{\mu}m$-is small compared to other risk factors, but the exposure is involuntary and affects the entire population, which makes particulate matter pollution an important public health issue. The World Health Organization and Korean government have both established guidelines for particulate matter concentrations, but the Korean guideline is less stringent than that of the World Health Organization. The annual mean concentration of particulate matter in Korea is decreasing, but the trend seems to be slowing. In addition to policy efforts to reduce particulate matter emission, personal approaches such as the use of face masks and air purifiers have been recommended. Personal approaches may not solve the fundamental problem, but can provide temporary mitigation until efforts to reduce emission make progress.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.122-137
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• 2019

Methane, one of the important greenhouse gas, has a higher global warming potential than that of carbon dioxide. Agriculture, especially livestock, is considered as the biggest sector in producing anthropogenic methane. Among livestock, ruminants are the highest emitters of enteric methane. Methanogenesis, a continuous process in the rumen, carried out by archaea either with a hydrogenotrophic pathway that converts hydrogen and carbon dioxide to methane or with methylotrophic pathway, which the substrate for methanogenesis is methyl groups. For accurate estimation of methane from ruminants, three methods have been successfully used in various experiments under different environmental conditions such as respiration chamber, sulfur hexafluoride tracer technique, and the automated head-chamber or GreenFeed system. Methane production and emission from ruminants are increasing day by day with an increase of ruminants which help to meet up the nutrient demands of the increasing human population throughout the world. Several mitigation strategies have been taken separately for methane abatement from ruminant productions such as animal intervention, diet selection, dietary feed additives, probiotics, defaunation, supplementation of fats, oils, organic acids, plant secondary metabolites, etc. However, sustainable mitigation strategies are not established yet. A cumulative approach of accurate enteric methane measurement and existing mitigation strategies with more focusing on the biological reduction of methane emission by direct-fed microbials could be the sustainable methane mitigation approaches.