• Title/Summary/Keyword: Contaminated air

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Lead Pollution and Lead Poisoning among Children in China

  • Zheng, Yuxin
    • Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
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    • 2003.06a
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    • pp.24-25
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    • 2003
  • Lead is ubiquitous in the human environment as a result of industrialization. China's rapid industrialization and traffic growth have increased the potential for lead emissions. Lead poisoning in children is one of the most common public health problems today, and it is entirely preventable. Children are more vulnerable to lead pollution and lead in their bodies can affect their nervous, circulatory, and digestive systems. Children are exposed to lead from different sources (such as paint, gasoline, and solder) and through different pathways (such as air, food, water, dust, and soil). Although all children are exposed to some lead from food, air, dust, and soil, some children are exposed to high dose sources of lead. Significant sources of lead for China's children include industrial emissions (often close to housing and schools), leaded gasoline, and occupational exposure that occurs when parents wear lead-contaminated clothing home from work, burning of coal for home heat and cooking, contaminated food, and some traditional medicines. To assess the blood lead level in children in China, a large-scale study was conducted in 19 cities among 9 provinces during 1997 to 2000. There were 6502 children, aged 3-5 years, were recruited in the study The result indicates that the mean blood lead level was 8.83ug/dl 3-5 year old living in city area. The mean blood lead level of boys was higher than that of girls (9.1l ug/dl vs 8.73ug/dl). Almost 30 percent childrens blood lead level exceeded 10ug/dl. The average blood lead level was higher than that of in 1985 (8.83ug/dl vs 8.lug/dl). An epidemiological study was carried on the children living around the cottage industries recycling the lead from battery. Nine hundreds fifty nine children, aged 5-12 years, living in lead polluted villages where the lead smelters located near the residential area and 207 control children live in unpolluted area were recruited in the study. The lead levels in air, soil, drinking water and crops were measured. The blood lead and ZnPP level were tested for all subjects. The results show that the local environment was polluted. The lead levels both in the air and crops were much higher than that of in control area. In the polluted area, the average blood level was 49.6ug/dl (rang 19.5-89.3ug/dl). Whereas, in the unpolluted area, the average blood level was 12.4ug/dl (rang 4.6-24.8ug/dl). This study indicates that in some countryside area, some cottage industries induce seriously lead pollution and cause children health problem. For the introducing of unleaded gasoline in some large cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, the blood lead level showed a declined trend since 1997. By 2000, the use of leaded gasoline in motor vehicles has been prohibited in China. The most recent data available show that levels of lead in blood among children in Shanghai decreased from 8.3ug/dl in 1997 to 7.6ug/dl in 1999. The prevalence rate of children lead poisoning (blood lead >10ug/dl) was also decreased from 37.8% to 24.8%. In children living in downtown area, the blood lead level reduced dramatically. To explore the relationship between gene polymorphisms and individual susceptibility of lead poisoning, a molecular epidemiological study was conducted among children living in lead polluted environment. The result showed that the subjects with ALAD2 allele has higher ZPP level, and the subjects with VDR B allele has larger head circumference than only with b allele. In the present study, we demonstrated that ALAD genotypes modify lead effects on heme metabolism and VDR gene variants influence the skull development in highly exposed children. The polymorphism of ALAD and VDR genes might be the molecular inherited factor modifying the susceptibility of lead poisoning. Recently, Chinese government pays more attention to lead pollution and lead poisoning in children problem. The leaded gasoline was prohibited used in motor vehicles since 2000. The government has decided to have a clampdown on the high-polluted lead smelters for recycling the lead from battery in countryside. It is hopeful that the risk of lead poisoning in children will be decreased in the further

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Application of Gaseous Ozone for Cleaning Biological Weapon Agent Contaminated Building (생물테러시 실내제독을 위한 효율적인 오존가스의 적용 방법)

  • Yoon, Je-Yong;Jeong, Woo-Dong;Mun, Sung-Min;Cho, Min
    • Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.101-108
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    • 2008
  • This study attempted to develop the technology by gaseous ozone for decontaminating building affected by a model of biological weapon agent(Bacillus subtilis spores) instead of Bacillus anthracis spore. The use of ozone is attractive method from a practical point of view of decontamination procedure since it has strong oxidation power but no residue after application. We examined the disinfection efficiency of gaseous ozone to Bacillus subtilis spores which suspension was sprayed on different material surfaces and dried. Three different types of gaseous ozone was applied : dry ozone, dry ozone with humidified air, and water bubbled wet ozone. Dry ozone(1500ppm) failed to achieve any significant inactivation for 2hrs. However, six log reduction of B. subtilis spore was achieved within 30min by 1500ppm of water bubbled wet ozone. This result shows the noticeable inactivation efficiency by gaseous ozone compared with previous studies. Good performance by wet ozone was also found for military material surface.(i.e. : gas mask hood, protective garments, army peinted metal surface).

Monitoring Airborne Nanoparticle Concentrations by Task in a Laboratory Making Carbon Nanotube Films (탄소나노튜브 필름 제조 실험실의 세부작업별 공기 중 나노입자 노출 농도)

  • Ha, Ju-Hyun;Shin, Yong-Chul
    • Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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    • v.20 no.4
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    • pp.248-255
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    • 2010
  • Airborne nanoparticle concentrations in three metrics (particle surface area concentration, particle number concentration, and particle mass concentrations) were measured by task in a laboratory making carbon nanotubes (CNTs) films using three direct reading instruments. Because of the conducted other researcher's experiment before the tasks, airborne nanoparticle surface area and number concentrations are the highest at the first time conducted weighing and mixing by sonication task, respectively. Because of the mist generated during mixing by sonication, the highest airborne nanoparticle surface area and PM1 concentrations were measured in the task among the total. Nanoparticle surface area concentrations at the researchers' breathing zones had high correlation (r=0.93, p<0.01) with those measured at an area in the laboratory. This result indicates that nanoparticles generated during the experiment contaminated the whole room air. When the experiment performed all the fume hoods weren't operated and making CNTs films task were conducted in the out of the fume hoods. In conclusion, researchers performing making CNTs film experiments were exposed to airborne nanoparticles generated during the experiment without adequate controls. We recommend that adequate controls should be implemented so that workers' exposures to airborne nanoparticle are limited to minimum levels.

가스상 TCE 처리를 위한 추출막 생물반응기의 수학적 모사

  • Kim, Ji-Seok;Kim, Gwan-Su;Jang, Deok-Jin
    • 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2000.04a
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    • pp.370-373
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    • 2000
  • In this work, an extractive membrane bioreactor containing coulture broth of Burkholderia cepacia G4 PR1 constitutively expressing the TCE-degrading enzyme, tolune-ortho-monooxygenase(TOM), was used for the degradation of TCE. The membrane bioreactor operates by seperating the TCE-containing waste gas from the aerated biomedium, by which the air-stripping of TCE without degradation was overcome that could occur in conventional aerobic biological treatments of TCE-contaminated waste gases. This was achieved by a silicone rubber membrane which was coiled around a perspex draft tube. TCE from the gas phase diffuses across the silicone rubber membrane into microbial culture broth that was continuously fed from a separate aerobic CSTR. Therefore, TCE degradation occured without the TCE being directly exposed to the aerating gas stream. Of the TCE supplied to the membrane bioreactor, 72.6% was biodegraded during the operation of this system. To construct a mathematical model for this system, parameters describing microbial growth kinetics on TCE were determined using a CSTR bioreactor. Else parameters used for numerical simulation were determined from either indepedent experiments or values reported in the literature. The model was compared with the experimental data, and there was a good agreement between the predicted and the measured TCE concentrations in the system. To achieve a higher treatment efficiency, various operating conditions were simulated as well.

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Simultaneous Removal of H2S, NH3 and Toluene in a Biofilter Packed with Zeocarbon Carrier

  • Park, Byoung-Gi;Shin, Won-Sik;Jeong, Yong-Shik;Chung, Jong-Shik
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.7-17
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    • 2008
  • Simultaneous removal of $NH_3,\;H_2S$ and toluene in a contaminated air stream was investigated over 185 days in a biofilter packed with Zeocarbon granule as microbial support. In this study, multi-microorganisms including Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter for nitrogen removal, Thiobacillus thioparus (ATCC 23645) for $H_2S$ removal, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 15692), Pseudomonas putida (ATCC 17484) and Pseudomonas putida (ATCC 23973) for toluene removal were used simultaneously. The empty bed residence time (EBRT) was 40-120 seconds and the feed (inlet) concentrations of $NH_3,\;H_2S$ and toluene were 0.02-0.11, 0.05-0.23 and 0.15-0.21 ppmv, respectively. The observed removal efficiency was 85%-99% for $NH_3$, 100% for $H_2S$, and 20-90% for toluene, respectively. The maximum elimination capacities were 9.3, 20.6 and $17g/m^3/hr\;for\;NH_3,\;H_2S$ and toluene, respectively. The results of kinetic model analysis showed that there were no particular evidences of interactions or inhibitions among the microorganisms, and that the three bio degradation reactions took place independently within a finite area of biofilm developed on the surface of the Zeocarbon carrier.

Generation of Hazardous Gas and Corrosion Originated from Anaerobic Digestion of Process Water in OCC Recycling Mill (골판지 재활용 공정수의 혐기성 분해에 따른 유해 기체의 생성과 부식)

  • Park, Dae-Sik;Ryu, Jeong-Yong;Song, Bong-Keun;Seo, Yung-Bum;Sung, Yong-Joo
    • Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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    • v.37 no.3
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    • pp.59-65
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    • 2005
  • There are accumulations of remained chemical additives and contaminants in the process water of semi-closed linerboard mill. High temperature of the process water aggravates the anaerobic digestion of contaminated process water and causes the generation of hazardous gases, which are from the biological reaction of varied additives and contaminants. The hydrogen sulfide in the gases easily combine with moisture in the air, and become sulfuric acid, which causes corrosion of paper machinery. This hydrogen sulfide is from the reduction of sulfate ions in the process water, and the sulfate ions are mostly from the alum. We changed the alum to PAC (Poly Aluminum Chloride). The results were preventing generation of hydrogen sulfide, and equivalent sizing effect by the use of PAC.

Removal of Toluene Vapor by Porous Ceramic Biofilter (다공성 세라믹 Biofilter를 이용한 Toluene 가스 제거)

  • Im, Jae-Sin;Gu, Ja-Gong;Park, Sang-Jin
    • Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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    • v.14 no.6
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    • pp.599-606
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    • 1998
  • Removal of toluene vapor from airstreams was studied in a biological reactor known as a biofilter. The biofilter was packed porous ceramic inoculated with thickened activated sludge (MLVSS 17,683 mg/L). The lab-scale biofilter was operated for 42 days under various experimental conditions including inlet toluene concentrations and flow rates of the contaminated air streams. Removal efficiency reached up 96.6% after 4 days from start up. Nutrient limitation was proposed as a reason for the decrease in biofilter performence. Biofilter performance decreased substantially, coincident with the buildup of back pressure due to accumulation of excess VSS within the medium bed. Practically, the bed needs to be backwashed when the overall pressure drop is greater than 460.6 Pa at SV (Space Velocity) 100 h-1. Periodic backwashing of the biofilter was necessary for removing excess biomass and attaining stable long -term high removal efficiency The removal efficiency of toluene in the biofilter decreased as the gas velocity and toluene concentration in the inlet gas increased. The maximum elimination capacity of ceramic biofilter could reach up to 444.85 g/m3. hr. When the loading of toluene exceed this critical value, substrate inhibition occurred.

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Biofiltration of Air Streams Contaminated Hydrogen Sulfide : Performance Evaluation of Different Carriers

  • Jeong, Gwi-Taek;Lee, Gwang-Yeon;Lee, Kyoung-Min;Cha, Jin-Myoung;Joe, Yong-Il;Park, Don-Hee
    • 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2005.10a
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    • pp.456-462
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    • 2005
  • The objective of this study was to develop a removal process by which $H_2S$ could be biologically removed from the odoriferous gases generated in the waste food recycling process. In order to develop this process we were first required to select a proper biofilter support protocol. When the selected biofilter equipment was then tested suing a synthetic odoriferous gas containing 600 ppm of $H_2S$, we noted a maximal removal rate of 658 $g-H_2S/m^3{\cdot}hr$, using polypropylene fibrils as supporting materials. Under identical experimental conditions, we obtained a value of 411.2 $g-H_2S/m^3{\cdot}hr$, using polyurethane as a support material. We also conducted a trial in which volcanic stone was utilized as a support material, and in this trial, we logged a maximal 105.1 $g-H_2S/m^3{\cdot}hr$ removal rate. As the result of our experiments, we concluded that polypropylene fibrils constituted the ideal material for the removal of $H_2S$ gas via biological treatment.

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Study of Development of a Dust-proof Oil Cooler (내분진형 오일 쿨러 개발에 관한 연구)

  • Lee, Young-Lim;Jeon, Euy-Sik
    • Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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    • v.16 no.3
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    • pp.60-65
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    • 2008
  • A typical louvered-fin oil cooler can be easily contaminated under dusty environment hence resulting in poor performance of a heat exchanger. Thus, in this study, a dust-proof oil cooler has been studied with a unique shape of a 3-dimensional wavy fin since non-louvered fins could have better performance under dusty environment compared to louvered fins. Recently, they have been introduced to commercial and constructional vehicles in Japan. At first numerical analysis has been done to optimize the angle of the wavy fin so that the oil cooler developed can satisfy the target performance. The wavy fin has been then made with roll-forming and roll-pitch stands, and a prototype of an oil cooler with the wavy fin has been finally built with brazing. The performance test showed that the heat release rate of the oil cooler was well beyond the target, 4.94kW and the air-side pressure drop was below the criterion, 0.19kPa. In addition, the results showed that the numerical prediction was effective enough to design the dust-proof oil cooler that satisfies the performance criteria.

Comparison of Land Farming and Chemical Oxidation based on Environmental Footprint Analysis (환경적 footprint 분석을 통한 토양경작법과 화학적산화법의 비교)

  • Kim, Yun-Soo;Lim, Hyung-Suk;Park, Jae-Woo
    • Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.7-14
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    • 2015
  • In this study, land farming and chemical oxidation of a diesel-contaminated site is compared to evaluate the environmental impact during soil remediation using the Spreadsheet for Environmental Footprint Analysis by U.S. EPA. Each remediation process is divided into four phases, consisting of soil excavation, backfill and transportation (Phase 0), construction of remediation facility (Phase 1), remediation operation (Phase 2), and restoration of site and waste disposal (Phase 3). Environmental footprints, such as material use, energy consumption, air emission, water use and waste generation, are analyzed to find the way to minimize the environmental impact. In material use and waste generation, land farming has more environmental effect than chemical oxidation due to the concrete and backfill material used to construct land farming facility in Phase 1. Also, in energy use, land farming use about six times more energy than chemical oxidation because of cement production and fuel use of heavy machinery, such as backhoe and truck. However, carbon dioxide, commonly considered as important factor of environmental impact due to global warming effect, is emitted more in chemical oxidation because of hydrogen peroxide production. Water use of chemical oxidation is also 2.1 times higher than land farming.