• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.229-240
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• 2010

During the last decade, perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have gained more attention due to their toxicity and global distribution. The aim of this study was to examine the distribution and bioaccumulation of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in aquatic wildlife effected from a sewage treatment plant. The concentrations of 12 PFCs were determined in water, sediment and fish samples. PFOS were predominantly detected in both ambient environment and fish. In fish, the concentration of PFCs in blood was the highest (i.e., 112.47 ng/mL wet-wt. PFOS) in comparison to other tissues. However, PFOA and PFHpS were highly detected in gonad as 3.87 and 4.58 ng/g wet-wt., respectively. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) of PFCs was greatest in the blood > liver${\cong}$gonad > kidney > gill, and lowest in the muscle tissue. The BCFs of PFUnDA (39,000), PFDA (2,700) and PFOS (1,100) were rated as high values based on wet weight concentration. BCFs increased with increasing the length of the perfluoralkyl chain.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.67-77
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• 2008

It has been observed that the linear relationship between the logarithm of bioconcentration factor (log BCF) of highly hydrophobic chemicals and their log $K_{ow}$ breaks when log $K_{ow}$ becomes greater than 6.0. Consequently, super hydrophobic chemicals were not thought to cause baseline toxicity as a single compound. Researchers often call this phenomenon as "hydrophobicity cutoff" meaning that bioconcentration or corresponding baseline toxicity has a certain cutoff at high log $K_{ow}$ value of hydrophobic organic pollutants. The underlying assumption is that the increased molecular size with increasing hydrophobicity prohibits highly hydrophobic compounds from crossing biological membranes. However, there are debates among scientists about mechanisms and at which log $K_{ow}$ this phenomenon occurs. This paper reviews three hypotheses to explain observed "cutoff": steric effects, kinetic or physiological limitations, and chemical activity cutoff. Although the critical molecular size that makes biological membranes not permeable to hydrophobic organic chemicals is uncertain, size effects in combination with kinetic limitation would explain observed non-linearity between log BCF and log $K_{ow}$. Chemical activity of hydrophobic chemicals generally decreases with increasing melting point at their aqueous solubility. Thus, there may be a chemical activity cutoff of baseline toxicity if there is a critical chemical activity over which baseline effects can be observed.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.19 no.9
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• pp.1119-1127
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• 2010

The behavior of copper throughout the whole process of wastewater treatment plant that uses the activated sludge process to treat the wastewater of petrochemical industry that contains low concentration of copper was investigated. Total inflow rate of wastewater that flows into the aeration tank was $697\;m^3$/day with 0.369 mg/L of copper concentration, that is, total copper influx was 257.2 g/day. The ranges of copper concentrations of the influent to the aeration tank and effluent from the one were 0.315 ~ 0.398 mg/L and 0.159 ~ 0.192 mg/L, respectively. The average removal rate of copper in the aeration tank was 50.8 %. The bioconcentration factor (BCF) of copper by microbes in the aeration tank was 3,320. The accumulated removal rate of copper throughout the activated sludge process was 71.3%, showing a high removal ratio by physical and chemical reactions in addition to biosorption by microbes. The concentration of copper in the solid dehydrated by filter press ranged from 74.8 mg/kg to 77.2 mg/kg and the concentration of copper by elution test of waste was 2.690 ~ 2.920 mg/L. It was judged that the copper concentration in dehydrated solid by bioconcentration could be managed with the control of that in the influent.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.264-271
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• 2004

An aquatic food chain was constructed to provide information of bioaccumulation of DEHP as followed: phytoplankton(Scenedesmus subspicatus) ${\rightarrow}$ zooplankton(Daphnia magna) ${\rightarrow}$ fish(Oryzias latipes). After 10 days of exposure to DEHP, the fish and culture water were analyzed for residual concentration of DEHP and BAF(Bioaccumulation Factor) was determined. In addition, BCF(Bioconcentration Factor) was calculated in exposure tank in which fish were only exposed DEHP by culture water. These experiments provide the relative importance between BAF and BCF. In this study, BCF and BAF did not show any significant difference. Another work in this study was model construction and application to investigate the effect of food chain structure to BAF in higher organism (fish). The model constructed in this study considered the biological characteristics of DEHP such as metabolic parameters, as well as the chemical characteristics such as solubility. This model could be used in prediction of bioaccumulation level in dependent of various food chain structures, when the target organisms or chemicals would be changed.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Toocicology Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.154-154
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• 2002

Benzoyl peroxide is a High Production Volume Chemical, which is produced about 1,375 tons/year in Korea as of 2001 survey. The substance is mainly used as initiators in polymerization, catalysts in the plastics industry, bleaching agents for flour and medication for acne vulgaris. The substance is one of seven chemicals of which human health and environmental risks are being assessed by National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) under the frame of OECD SIDS Program. In this study, Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships (QSAR) is used for getting adequate information on the physical-chemical property and the environmental fate of this chemical. For the assessment of benzoyl peroxide, models such as MPBPWIN for vapor pressure, KOWWIN for octanol/water partition coefficient, HENRYWIN for Henry's Law constant, AOPWIN for photolysis and BCFWN for bioconcentration factor (BCF) were used. These (Q)SAR model programmes were worked by using the SHILES (Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry System) notations. The physical-chemical properties and the environmental fate of benzoyl peroxide were estimated as followed : vapor pressure =0.00929 Pa, Log Kow = 3.43, Henry's Law constant = 0.00000354 atm-㎥/mole at 25 $^{\circ}C$, the half-life of photodegradation = 3 days, bioconcentration factor (BCF) = 92

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.60 no.4
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• pp.339-342
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• 2017

Residual endosulfan in an agricultural environment has been reported, although endosulfan was listed to persistent organic pollutants and banned. To produce the safe crop from endosulfan residue risk, the plant uptake potential of endosulfan from soil to crop should be studied. In here, the plant uptake potentials of endosulfan in various crops were surveyed and ranged from 0.002-4.460. And the bioconcentration factors (BCF) of total endosulfan in carrot and spinach were calculated from the pot experiment. The BCFs in carrot and spinach were 0.285 and 0.040-0.047 respectively. Endosulfan sulfate was contributed to over 42.8% of the crop residue as a major contributor among the three endosulfan congeners in both of carrot and spinach.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.191-194
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• 2018

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) are emerging pollutants in agricultural product, and the residual patterns and the uptake potentials were only studied on several crops, not on rice. The residue level and bioconcentration factor (BCF) of PFOA and PFOS were investigated on the low ($1mg\;kg^{-1}$) and the high contaminated soil ($5mg\;kg^{-1}$) groups. The residue levels in brown rice in the low group and in the high group were 0.002-0.004 and $0.008-0.030mg\;kg^{-1}$ of the each perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), and in the rice husk were $0.035-0.074mg\;kg^{-1}$ and $0.125-0.376mg\;kg^{-1}$ of the each PFCs, respectively. Furthermore, the residues in rice straw were the highest level in the all rice parts both in the groups. The PFOA and PFOS were reached to $3.723mg\;kg^{-1}$ and $7.641mg\;kg^{-1}$, respectively, and the BCF (1.474 and 4.700) as well.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.251-258
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• 2017

This study was conducted to identify transition characteristics of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) and to calculate bio-concentration factors (BCF) in the three perennial root medicinal plants, namely Codonopsis lanceolata (Deoduck), Platycodon grandiflorum (Balloon flower) and Panax ginseng (Korean ginseng) grown in major medicinal plant producing districts in Korea. Average BCF values ranged from 0.009~0.029 in As, 0.334~1.453 in Cd, and 0.021~0.023 in Pb in three perennial root medicinal plants. The BCF values increased in the order of ginseng (0.029) > deodeok (0.012) > balloon flower (0.009) for As, balloon flower (1.453) > deodeok (0.685) > ginseng (0.334) for Cd, and ginseng (0.023) > deodeok (0.022) > balloon flower (0.021) for Pb. The BCF values calculated in this study will be useful for predicting the uptake of heavy metal (loid)s. Further study on uptake and accumulation mechanism of toxic metal (loid)s by agricultural products is required to assess the human health risk associated with soil contamination.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.28-38
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• 2024

Phytoremediation presents a low-carbon and eco-friendly solution for heavy metal-contaminated soils, which pose great health and environmental risks to humans and ecosystems. A hydroponic culture was used to quantitatively assess the phytoremediation potential of plant species to remediate As or Cd-contaminated soil in field application. This study examined the growth, uptake, and distribution of Cd in the roots and shoots of Phalaris arundinacea and Brassica juncea in hydroponic conditions with Cd concentrations ranging from 0 to 20 mg/L for 10 days. Additionally, Aster koraiensis and Pteris multifida were cultivated in hydroponic conditions containing As concentrations ranging from 0 to 40 mg/L for 10 days. The concentrations of Cd in the above-ground part and root tissues of P. arundinacea and B. juncea reached a maximum of 147.7 and 1926.7 mg/kg-D.W.(Dry Weight), and 351.6 and 11305.5 mg/kg-D.W., respectively. Bioconcentration factor (BCF) for P. arundinacea and B. juncea were 68.9 and 122.3, respectively. Both species exhibited a translocation factor (TF) of less than 0.1, indicating their eligibility for phytostabilization. Aster koraiensis exhibited significant As accumulation of 155.1 and 1306.7 mg/kg D.W. in the above-ground part and root, respectively. However, this accumulation resulted with substantial weight loss and the manifestation of toxic symptoms. P. multifida exhibited higher accumulation of As (345.1 mg/kg-D.W.) in the fronds than in the roots (255.4 mg/kg-D.W.), corresponding to BCF values of 18.6 and 7.6, respectively, and a TF greater than 1.2. A TF value greater than 1.0 indicates that P. multifida is a viable option for phytoextraction.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.213-222
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• 2009

In order to investigate contamination of heavy metal in seawater and cultured oyster, samples were collected November 2003 to July 2004 from 12 sites (13 sites for seawater) along the coast of Tongyeong, Korea. The mean concentrations of metal in oyster tissues were as follows: 0.09 (0.01-0.3) ${\mu}g/l$ for Cd, 0.47 (0.01-1.4) ${\mu}g/l$ for Cr, 0.59 (0.2-2.3) ${\mu}g/l$ for Ni, 1.02 (0.1-4.2) ${\mu}g/l$ for Pb and 0.48 (0.01-3.9) ${\mu}g/l$ for Hg in the seawater, whereas 2.45 (0-5.47) mg/kgDW for Cd, 3.63 (0.10-12.91) mg/kgDW for Cr, 3.2 (0.01-15.73) mg/kgDW for Ni, 3.51 (0.01-6.47) mg/kgDW for Pb and 0.39 (0.004-0.74) mg/kgDW for Hg, respectively. Most metal concentration values were below the permissible range for the related regulations. Mean bioconcentration factors (BCF) for each metal were as follows: 38,964 (1,771-207, 171) for Cd, 9,583 (1,231-80, 162) for Cr, 191 (3-20, 980) for Ni, 1,416 (245-5, 207) for Pb and 180 (5-716) for Hg, respectively. The BCF values from this study corresponded to the transitional phase from the pristine to the contaminated waters. Notably, Cd showed the highest BCF, which suggest that the Pacific oyster could be utilized as a useful biomarker for Cd contamination in sea water. The multidimensional scaling analysis suggested that the metal contaminants are mainly originated from combustion of fossil fuel and accumulated to oyster through food web.