• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.347-360
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• 2007

In order to evaluate the degree and extent of heavy metal pollution and the environmental impacts of abandoned Cu mines in Goseong-gun, soils and paddies were collected from the mine area and have been analysed for heavy metal contents. The heavy metal contents were much higher in mountain soils than in paddy soils. Total content of heavy metals decreased in order of Cu>Zn>Pb>As>Cr>Cd in mountain soils whereas Zn>Pb>Cu>Cr>As>Cd in paddy soils. The extractable amount of heavy metals by 0.1/1N HCl decreased in order of Cu>Pb>Zn>As>Cd>Cr in mountain soils whereas Pb>Cu>Zn>As>Cd>Cr in paddy soils. Although the extraction ratios were highly various depending on the sampling site, their average values were in order of Cd(16%)>Pb(10%)>Cu(9%)>As(4.5%)>Zn-Cr(${\le}2.5%$). The soils investigated were enriched in heavy metals relative to the averages of earth crust as In order of $As{\ge}Cd$>Pb>Zn>Cu>Cr. Pollution index calculated from total or extractable heavy metals of soils indicated that the heavy metal pollution was restricted to mountain soils around abandoned Cu mines, especially the Samsan I mine. The metal contents of brown rice showed no significantly contaminated level as follows; As $nd{\sim}0.87mg/kg,\;Cd\;0.02{\sim}0.34mg/kg,\;Cu\;1.01{\sim}6.25mg/kg,\;Mn\;13.4{\sim}43.2mg/kg,\;Pb\;0.09{\sim}2.83mg/kg,\;and\;Zn\;16.5{\sim}79.1mg/kg$. From the extraction and dispersion properties of heavy metal with the soil pH ($4.5{\sim}7.8$), it can be deduced the conclusion that the heavy metal pollution is spreading in the study area mainly by the detrital migration of waste ore and gangue minerals rather than the dissolution and circulation of heavy metal.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.90 no.4
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• pp.495-504
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• 2001

The objectives of this study were to understand the characteristics of Cd and Pb accumulation in various tissues of poplar species and the effects of ectomycorrhizal inoculation on the accumulation of above two heavy metals in the tissues. The mycelial inoculum of ectomycorrizal fungus, Pisolithus tinctorius was produced in peatmoss and vermiculite mixtures, and inoculated into potted soil with fresh cuttings of four species of Populus, P. alba ${\times}$ glandulosa (Pag). P. koreana ${\times}$ nigra var. italica (Pkn), P. nigra ${\times}$ maximowiczii(Pnm), and P. euramericana(Pe). The potted soils were added with 0, 30, and 80 ppm Cd, and 0, 50, and 300 ppm Pb. The cuttings were grown outdoors for about five months until the plants were harvested for measurement of growth, mycorrhizal infection, and metal contents in leaves, stems, and roots. The total dry weight of Pe treated with Cd and Pb was increased by mycorrhizal inoculation, while that of three other species was not affected by the inoculation. Cd was accumulated in the highest concentration in Pag and its concentration was increased by four times by mycorrhizal inoculation. The Pag accumulated Cd in the highest concentration in the leaves, while three other species accumulated Cd most in the roots. Pb was accumulated in the highest concentration in the roots of all the four species, while Pkn accumulated Pb in the leaves as much as in the roots. Without mycorrhizal inoculation Pe accumulated Pb most among the four species, while Pkn with mycorrhizal inoculation accumulated Pb two times more than in the same species without mycorrhizal inoculation. It was concluded that Pag was the most effective species among the four poplar species in Cd absorption from contaminated soil, and that Pe instead effectively absorbed Pb. Mycorrhizal inoculation increased the Cd accumulation in the tissues by four times in Pag and also increased Pb accumulation by two times in Pkn, with leaves being the major sites of metal accumulation. It may be possible to use these two poplar species in remedying the metal in the soil through the raking and removing the litter out of the contaminate site.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 1993

This research aims to investigate some respects of chemical weathering processes, espcially the amount of solute leaching, formation of clay minerals, and the chemical weathering rate of granite rocks under present climatic conditions. For this purpose, I investigated geochemical mass balance in a small catchment and the mineralogical composition of weathered bedrocks including clay mineral assemblages at four res-pective sites along one slope. The geochemical mass blance for major elements of rock forming minerals was calculated from precipitation and streamwater data which are measured every week for one year. The study area is a climatically and litholo-gically homogeneous small catchment($3.62Km^2$)in Anyang-shi, Kyounggi-do, Korea. The be-drock of this area id Anyang Granite which is composed of coarse-giained, pink-colored miner-als. Main rock forming minerals are quartz, K-Feldspar, albite, and muscovite. One of the chracteristics of this granite rock is that its amount of Ca and Mg is much lower than other granite rock. The leaching pattern in the weathering profiles is in close reltion to the geochemical mass balance. Therefore the removal or accumulation of dissolved materials shows weathering patterns of granite in the Korean peninsula. Oversupplied ions into the drainage basin were $H^+$, $K^+$, Fe, and Mn, whereas $Na^2+$, $Mg^2+$, $Ca^2+$, Si, Al and $HCO-3^{-}$ were removed from the basin by the stream. The consumption of hydrogen ion in the catchment implies the hydrolysis of minerals. The surplus of $K^+$ reflects that vegetation is in the aggravation stage, and the nutrient cycle of the forest in study area did not reach a stable state. And it can be also presumed that the accumulation of $K^+$ in the top soil is related to the surplus of $K^+$. Oversupplied Fe and Mn were presumed to accumulate in soil by forming metallic oxide and hydroxide. In the opposite, the removal of $Na^+$, Si, Al resulted from the chemical weathering of albite and biotite, and the amount of removal of $Na^+$, Si, Al reflected the weathering rate of the bedrock. But $Ca^2+$ and $Mg^2+$ in stream water were contaminated by the scattered calcareous structures over the surface. Kaolinite is a stable clay mineral under the present environment by the thermodynamical analysis of the hydrogeochemical data and Tardy's Re value. But this result was quite different from the real assemblage of clay miner-als in soil and weathered bedrock. This differ-ence can be explained by the microenvironment in the weathering profile and the seasonal variation of climatic factors. There are different clay forming environments in the stydy area and these differences originate from the seasonal variation of climate, especially the flushing rate in the weathering profile. As it can be known from the results of the analysis of thermodynamic stability and characteristics of geochemical mas balance, the climate during winter and fall, when it is characterized by the low flushing rate and high solute influx, shows the environmental characteristics to from 2:1 clay minerals, such as illite, smectite, vermiculite and mixed layer clay minerals which are formed by neoformation or transformation from the primary or secondary minerals. During the summer and spring periods, kaoli-nite is a stable forming mineral. However it should consider that the other clay minerals can transformed into kaolinite or other clay minerals, because these periods have a high flushing rte and temperature. Materials which are directly regulated by chemical weathering in the weathered bedrock are $Na^+$, Si, and Al. The leaching of Al is, however, highly restricted and used to form a clay mineral, and that of Si falls under the same category. $Na^+$ is not taked up by growing veget ation, and fixed in the weathering profile by forming secondary minerals. Therefore the budget of $Na^+$ is a good indicator for the chemical weathering rate in the study area. The amount of chemical weathering of granite rocks was about 31.31g/$m^2+$/year based on $Na^+$ estimation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2009

This research was performed to assess a Fenton-like oxidation using naturally present iron in the field to treat remained oils throughout silty clay residues which finally resided even after a series of soil washing process. Biodegradability was thus tested for reaction products to investigate a possible treatment of the Fenton-like oxidation coupled with a biological treatment process. For those purposes, two types of field soil samples (e.g., dewatered cake after conditioning with a polymer and not-dewatered residue) were tested to remove TPH by adding the various concentration of hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$). Moreover the biodegradability of treated samples was observed based on the ratio of $BOD_5/COD_{Cr}$ after Fenton-like oxidation. The Highest removal of TPH was at 1% of hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) when hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$) was continuously injected for a period of time rather than that of spot introduction with the same amount of it. For the dewatered cake, TPH was effectively treated when the ratio of solid and water was mixed at 1 : 2. Employing cooking oil could increase solubility of TPH due to enhanced surface-active escalating TPH desorption from silty clay. Nonetheless, the biodegradability was decreased as long as the oxidation duration being extended regardless of operational conditions. It was therefore proved that Fenton-like oxidation using $H_2O_2$ and natural iron minerals was able to remove adsorbed oils in silty clay but the removal efficiency of TPH was low. And if a biological treatment process followed after Fenton-like oxidation, microorganisms would need enough time for acclimation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.115-121
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• 2001

Biological Treatment of Wastewater Containing Chlorinated Phenols by a Mixed Culture. Lee, Wan-Seok1, Sang-Wook Jung, Chan-Sun Park, Byung-Dae Yoon, Jang-Eok Kim\ and Hee-Mock Oh*. Environmental Bioresources Laboratory, Korea Research Institute of Biosicence and Biotechnology, Taejon, Korea, 1 Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Kyungpool< National University, Taegu, Korea - The biodegradation of chlorinated phenols in an artificial wastewater was investigated using a mixed culture. The mixed culture was composed of 8 microorganisms isolated from the soil contaminated with various chlorinated phenols. Pseudomonas sp. BM as a main constituent of a mixed culture was Gram-negative, catalase- and oxidase-positive, and rod-shaped, and did not grow at 41°C. It degraded 99% of initial 500 mg!1 of pentachlorophenol (PCP) in the minimal salts medium as a sole source of carbon and energy within 3 days. The degradation efficiency of Pseu.domon.as sp. BM was not affected by the other organic carbon and nitrogen compounds. Pseudomonas sp. BM was able to grow in a broad range of pH 5 - 8, and degrade 2,000 mg/1 PCP. In the experiment with an artificial wastewater containing chlorinated phenols, the degradation efficiency of the mixed culture was the range of 73% (2,4-dichlorophenol) -96% (2-chlorophenol) during an incubation of 7 days. In a continuous culture experiment, the degradation efficiency of mixed culture plus activated sludge was about 2 times higher than that of the control containing only activated sludge. These results indicate that it is possible to apply the mixed culture to other wastewaters containing chlorinated phenols. Key words: Biodegradation, chlorinated phenols, pentachlorophenol, Pseudomonas sp. BM

• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.185-185
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• 2007

Starting at the beginning q the 20th century, increasing amounts of tetrach1oroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE)were manufactured due to the extensive use of these compounds in industry, in the military, and in private households, mainly as nonflammable solvents. This widespread use, along with careless handling and storage, are among the most serious contaminants of soil, sediment and groundwater. Highly chlorinated ethenes are typically not degraded through oxygenation by aerobic bacteria Since complete reductive dechlorination of PCE and TCE to ethene (ETH) has been observed in anaerobic enrichment culture, anaerobic dehalorespiring bacteria have received increased attention in the last decade. Under anaerobic conditions, these compounds con be reductively dehalogenated to less-chlorinated ethenes or innocuous ethene by microorganism through dehalorespiration. We have been studying anaerobic enrichment culture which used lactate as the electron donor for reductive dechlorination of PCE to ETH the anaerobic mixed microbial culture was enriched from the sediment sample taken from site contaminated with PCE. PCE was consistently and completely converted to ethene. In addition, the accumulation of intermediate products such as 1,2-ds-dichloroethene (cis-DCE) and vinyl chloride (VC) was observed in the anaerobic mixed microbial culture. the established dechlorinating enrichment culture was analyzed by DGGE using primers specific to DefrJ1ococcoides 16S rRNA gene sequences. In conclusion, we established the PCE dechlorinating enrichment culture and confirmed the existence of Dehalococcoides in an enrichment culture.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1294-1303
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• 2019

Perchlorate is an anionic pollutant that is very soluble and stable in water. It has been detected not only in soil/ground water but also in surface water, drinking water, food, fish, and crops. Perchlorate inhibits iodine uptake by the thyroid gland and reduces production of thyroid hormones that are primarily responsible for regulation of metabolism. Although various technologies have been developed to remove perchlorate from the environment, biodegradation is the method of choice since it is economical and environmentally friendly. However there is limited information on perchlorate biodegradation in salt environment such as salt water. Therefore this paper reviews biodegradation of perchlorate in salt water and related microorganisms. Most biodegradation research has employed heterotrophic perchlorate removal using organic compounds such as acetate as electron donors. Biodegradation research has focused on perchlorate removal from spent brine generated by ion exchange technology that is primarily employed to clean up perchlorate-contaminated ground water. Continuous removal of perchlorate at up to 10% NaCl was shown when bioreactors were inoculated with enriched salt-tolerant perchlorate-reducing bacteria. However the reactors did not show long-term stable removal of perchlorate. Microorganisms belonging to ${\beta}$- and ${\gamma}$-Proteobacteria were dominant in bioreactors used to remove perchlorate from salt water. This review will help our understanding of perchlorate removal from salt water to develop a decent biotechnology for the process.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.5 s.174
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• pp.535-545
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• 2005

Environmental survey from some abandoned metal mine areas was undertaken on to assess the risk of adverse health effects on human exposure to arsenic influenced by past Au-Ag mining activities. Elevated levels of As were found in tailings from the studied mine areas. This high concentration may have a impact on soils and waters around the tailing piles. In order to perform the human risk assessment, chemical analysis data of soils, rice grains and waters fur As have been used. The HQ values fer As via the rice grain and groundwater consumption were significantly higher compared with other exposure pathways in all metal mine areas. However, there were minimal soil and water dermal contact risks. The resulting Hl values of As from the Dongil, Okdong and Hwacheon mine areas were higher than 5.0, and their toxic risk due to drinking water and rice grain was strong in these mine areas. The cancer risk of being exposed to As by the rice grain route from the Dongil, Okdong and Hwacheon mine areas was $5.2\times10^{-4},\;6.0\times10^{-4}\;and\;8.1\times10^{-4}$, respectively. The As cancer risk via the exposure pathway of drinking water from these mine areas exceeded the acceptable risk of 1 in 10,000 fer regulatory purposes. Thus, the daily intakes of groundwater and rice grain by the local residents from the Dongil, Okdong and Hwacheon mine areas can pose a potential health threat if exposed by long-term arsenic exposure.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.239-244
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• 2012

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the characteristics and chemical components of biosurfactant produced by Pseudomonas sp. G314. Pseudomonas sp. G314 was isolated from soil samples which were contaminated with oil in Daejon area. As such, it produced quality biosurfactant [23]. One type of biosurfactant was kept in a refrigerator, whereas another type of biosurfactant was kept in room temperature. The surface tension activities were then compared. As a result, the biosurfactant from Pseudomonas sp. G314 that was kept at room temperature was stable for 10 days, showing 26.2 dyne/cm of surface tension activity. This result was found to be similar to that of the refrigerator storage. The surface tension of batch culture was 25 dyne/cm, but the culture in the 5 l fermentor was 27 dyne/cm. Therefore, it can be suggested that the large-scale culture is feasible via the fermentor. Biosurfactant from Pseudomonas sp. G314 was estimated to be a kind of glycolipid because it dissolved in acetone and methanol much better than in benzene and toluene [23]. A spot was detected through the elution of silica gel column and the spread of TLC, and the Rf value was 0.58. This spot has a positive reaction with Bail's reagent and rhodamine 6G. Hence, we can conclude that biosurfactant from Pseudomons sp. G314 was a glycolipid containing carbohydrate and lipid.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.949-957
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• 2000

This study investigates the remediation of the phenol or PNP(p-Nitrophenol) contaminated soils in a slurry reactor by a pure culture, P-99. The application of a pure culture for the phenol decontamination make the degradation rate three times faster than that of the mixed activated sludge. The destruction of 300 mg/L phenol was completed in 26 hours. As 1 mg of phenol was added, 0.1457 mg of microorganism was grown in the medium. The pure culture could not utilizes PNP, one of the xenobiotics, as a growth substrate. When the bacteria was induced by phenol enrichment medium. PNP could be effectively transformed with cometabolic process. The induction of the bacteria requires 1 mg of phenol for the destruction of 0.027 mg PNP. When PNP concentration in the medium contained phenol and PNP increased. the degradation rate of phenol was decreased. The degradation rate of phenol and PNP in the slurry reactor was about two times faster than in the reactor without slurry because of higher dissolved oxygen supply in the aqueous phase and adsorption on the surface of the soil.