• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.558-568
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• 2011

Hazardous volatile organic compounds (HVOCs) have been increasingly getting concern in urban air chemistry due to photochemical smog as well as its toxicity or potential hazards. In this study, we investigated their concentrations and the properties in tunnel, urban roadside and residential area. As a result, among 36HVOCs measured in this study, BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene) and dichlorodifluoromethane, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, trichlorofluoromethane were detected above the concentration of $1{\mu}g/m^3$ in every sampling site and the most abundant compound was toluene. The other compounds were detected at trace level or below the detection limit. In addition, we found that three CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), such as CFC-12, CFC-11, CFC-113, were persistently detected because of the emission in the past. Toluene to benzene ratio (T/B) at tunnel and roadside were calculated to be 4.3~5.3 and at residential area 15.4, suggesting that the residential area had several emission sources other than car exhaust. The ratio of X/E (m,p-xylene to ethylbenzene) ratio was calculated to be 1.8~2.1 at tunnel, 1.7 at roadside and 1.2 at residential area, which means this ratio reflected well the relative photochemical reactivity between these compounds. Good correlation between m,p-xylene and ethylbenzene ($r^2$ > 0.85) were shown in every study sites. This indicated that correlation between $C_2$-alkylbenzenes were not severely affected by 3-way catalytic converter. In this study, it was demonstrated that the concentration of benzene was very low, compared with national air quality standard (annual average of $5{\mu}g/m^3$). Its concentration were $2.52{\mu}g/m^3$ in roadside and $1.34{\mu}g/m^3$ in residential area. We thought this was the result of persistent policy implementation including the reduction of benzene content in gasoline enforced on January 1, 2009.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.387-397
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• 2014

This work aims at estimating global warming potentials (GWP) of $CF_3Br$ and HFC-134a among green house gases. It has been reported that they have much higher GWP than $CO_2$ in the atmosphere. $CF_3Br$, halon 1301 which is well known to be a fire extinguisher, as one of the bromine-containing halons has been banned since 2003 due to destruction of ozone. HFCs, a kind of chiller which replaced chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are one of greenhouse gases regulated by the Kyoto Protocol. In this study, we produced GWPs of $CF_3Br$ and HFC-134a by calculating a life time and measuring an absorption cross section to obtain a radiative forcing (RF). Their absorption cross sections were measured by using Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTS) with a gas cell filled with their certified reference materials at room temperature. As a result, the RFs of $CF_3Br$ and HFC-134a were 0.32 and $0.168Wm^{-2}ppb^{-1}$, respectively and the GWPs were calculated as 7989, 6076, 3903 for $CF_3Br$ and 3855, 1300, 656 for HFC-134a for the time horizon of 20, 100, 500 years, respectively. Overall, uncertainty of the estimated GWPs can be estimated to be about 2.6%. Our results were compared with those proposed by the previous studies (IPCC, 2007; WMO, 1999).

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.09a
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• pp.138-141
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• 2004

The environmental tracers tritium/helium-3 (3H/3He) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were investigated in ground water from Jeju Island, Korea, a basaltic volcanic island. The apparent 3H/3He and CFC-12 ages were in relatively good agreement in samples with low concentrations of terrigenic He. Ground water mixing was evaluated by comparing 3H and CFC-12 concentrations with mixing models, which distinguished old water with negligible 3H and CFC-12, young water with piston flow, and binary mixtures of the two end members. The ground water CFC-12 age is much older in water from wells completed in confined zones of the hydro-volcanic Seoguipo formation in coastal areas than in water from the basaltic aquifer. Comparison of major element concentrations in ground water with the CFC-12 age shows that nitrate contamination processes contribute more solutes in young water than are derived from water-rock interactions in non-contaminated old water. Chemical evolution of ground water resulting from silicate weathering in basaltic rocks reaches the zeolite-smectite phase boundary. The calcite saturation state of ground water increased with the CFC-12 apparent (piston flow) age. In agricultural areas, the temporal trend of nitrate concentration in ground water was consistent with the known history of chemical fertilizer use on Jeju Island, but the response of nitrate concentration in ground water to nitrogen inputs follows an approximate 10-year delay. Based on mass balance calculations, it was estimated that about 40% of the nitrogen applied by fertilizers reached the water table and contaminated ground water resources when the fertilizer use was at the highest level.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1999

Numerous observations revealed strong evidence of increased middle ultraviolet radiation or UV-B (280 ~ 320 nm) at the earth's surface resulting from stratospheric ozone depletion. UV is the waveband of electromagnetic radiation which is strongly absorbed by nucleic acids and proteins, thus causing damage to living systems. It has been recorded in the East Sea, Korea that solar UV-B impinging on the ocean surface penetrates seawater to significant depths. Recent researches showed that exposure to UV-B for as short as 2h at the ambient level (2.0 Wm$^{-2}$) decreased macroalgal growth and photosynthesis and destroyed photosynthetic pigments. These may suggest that UV-B could be an important environmental factor to determine algal survival and distribution. Some adaptive mechanisms to protect macroalgae from UV-damage have been found, which include photoreactivation and formation of UV-absorbing pigments. Post-illumination of visible light mitigated UV-induced damage in laminarian young sporophytes with blue the most effective waveband. The existence of UV-B absorbing pigments has been recognized in the green alga, Ulva pertusa and the red alga, Pachymeniopsis sp., which is likely to exert protective function for photosynthetic pigments inside the thalli from UV-damage. Further studies are however needed to confirm that these mechanisms are of general occurrence in seaweeds. Macroalgae together with phytoplankton are the primary producers to incorporate about 100 Gt of carbons per year, and provide half of the total biomass on the earth. UV-driven reduction in macroalgal biomass, if any, would therefore cause deleterious effects on marine ecosystem. The ultimate impacts of increasing UV-B flux due to ozone destruction are still unknown, but the impression from UV studies made so far seems to highlight the importance of setting up long-term monitoring system for us to be able to predict and detect the onset of large -scale deterioration in aquatic ecosystem.

• Clean Technology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.184-192
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• 2008

Fluoride-type cleaning agents such as 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFEA) and hydrofluoroethers (HFEs) do not destroy ozone in the stratosphere and have low global warming potential compared to hydrofluorocarbons(HFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). Especially, HFEs which have no flash point are paid attention as next generation type of cleaning agents for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) since they are safe in handling and have excellent penetration ability compared to hydrocarbon cleaning agents with low flash point. Here, the physical properties and cleaning abilities of fluoride-type cleaning agents such as TFEA, HFE-7100, HFE-7200, HFE-476mec, HFE-449mec-f, AE-3000 and AE-3100E and silicide-type cleaning agents such as trifluoroetoxytrimethylsilane (TFES) and hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) were measured and compared with those of ozone destruction substances such as CFC-113 and 1,1,1-trichloroethane. They were also compared with toxic methylene chloride (MC) and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) which are now being used as an alternative cleaning agents. As a result, TFEA and HFEs had lower cleaning ability for removal of various soils compared to chloride-type cleaning agents, but they showed excellent cleaning ability fur fluoride-type soils. TFES and HMDS also showed excellent cleaning ability for silicide-type soils.

• Clean Technology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.172-181
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• 2010

Hydrofluoroethers (HFEs) with fluoride molecules in their structure which are evaluated as the third generation replacement alternatives to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are known to be excellent for removal of nanoparticles and fluoride-type soils due to their low surface tension and high wetting index. In addition, HFEs have good physical properties with no flash point and excellent drying characteristics. But, HFEs also have shortcomings in that they are not effective for removal of organic soils due to their poor solubility in soil. In this study, $C_5$ HFE-based cleaning agents were formulated through addition of solvents such as isopropyl alcohol (IPA), ethyleneglycol monoether (EG), propyleneglycol monoethylether (PM) to HFE-7100 [$CF_3CF_2CF_2CF_2OCH_3$] or HFE-mec-f [$CF_3CHF=CF_2OCH_2CF_3$] with its maximum amount, respectively, in order to have no flash point for the safety in the working environment. These solvents are known to be excellent for dissolving organics in soil. Their physical properties and cleaning abilities for fluxes, water-insoluble cutting oils, and fluoride-type oils were evaluated and compared with those of other cleaning agents with single components. The experimental results show that the HFE-based formulated cleaning agents have various good physical properties which are almost similar to those of a single type of HFE cleaner. They show excellent cleaning ability for fluxes, water-insoluble cutting oils, and fluoride-type oils. These results indicate that the HFE-based formulated cleaning agents can be applicable to various industrial cleaning fields because of their good physical properties and cleaning abilities for various soils.