• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 1997.05a
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• pp.87-91
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• 1997

• Proceedings of the Zoological Society Korea Conference
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• 1999.10b
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• pp.137.2-137
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• 1999

No Abstract, See Full Text

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.39-67
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• 2005

In order to properly define the terms such as soil, soil contamination, soil contamination site and remediation, which are the key terms under the Soil Environment Conservation Act(SECA) in Korea, we analyzed the legal definitions of the similar key words in legislations of the developed western countries. The selected countries were the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. The legal definitions of these keywords were very much diversified due to different levels of soil contamination, as well as different industrial, social, and legal backgrounds in each country. However, fair suggestions for definitions of the key terms in SECA were derived from the comparative analyses of these countries. First and foremost, SECA should provide a definition of 'soil' which includes a concept of the natural soil layer produced from soil mineralization processes. Groundwater and sublayer of the groundwater would. be excluded in the boundary of the soil with regards to the Groundwater Act of Korea. Definition of 'soil contamination' of SECA should include a concept of risk assessment(soil contaminants, pathway, and receptors), purpose of land use, and the acquired limitation levels of soil contaminants. Soil contamination activity either industrial or anthropogenic in SECA article2-1, could be substituted for a concept of soil risk assessment. Definition of 'soil contamination site' could derive from amalgamating the concepts of i) soil contamination in conjunction with contaminants, ii) risk assessment, iii) a concept of land use, and iv) knowing limitation of contamination site designation. Definition of 'remediation of contaminated site' should include the objective, intention, action, methodology and limit of the remediation. These suggested definitions would increase the efficacy of soil environment conservation policies, which includes the survey of the potentially contaminated area, remediation, and removal of the site.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.25-35
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• 1999

Fly ash, by-product from coal fired power station, has long been regarded as a potential contamination source for heavy metals and inorganics due to their enriched concentrations and associations with particle surface. Feed coal and fly ash samples were collected from two power stations; Yongdong deliang with domestic anthracite coals and Boryong with imported bituminous coals. The coal and fly ash samples were analyzed for chemical composition and mineral components, using XRF and XRD. Batch leaching experiments were conducted by agitating samples with deionised water for 24 hours. Anthracite coals are generally higher in Al and Si contents than bituminous coals. This is due to the higher ash contents of the anthracite coal than bituminous coal. The chemistry of the two fly ash samples shows broadly similar compositions each other, except for the characteristically high contents of Cr in anthracite coal fly ash. Leaching experiments revealed that concentrations of metals gradually decreased with leachings in general. However, measurable amounts of metals were present in the effluent from weathered ash and the samples subjected to the leaching procedure. These metals are likely to indicate that the metals in fly ash were incorporated into glass fraction as well as associated with particle surface of samples. Dissolution of aluminosilicate glass would control releasing heavy metals from fly ash as weathering progresses during landfill with implication of possible groundwater contamination through fly ash landfill.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.39-49
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• 2018

Background: A model to assess the activity concentration of agricultural products and the public ingestion dose as result of a nuclear accident is necessarily required to manage the contaminated agricultural systems by the accident, or to estimate the effects of chronic exposure due to food ingestion at a Level 3 PSA. Materials and Methods: A dynamic compartment model, which is composed of three sub-modules, namely, an agricultural plant contamination assessment model, an animal product contamination assessment model, and an ingestion dose assessment model has been developed based on Korean farming characteristics such as the growth characteristics of rice and stockbreeding. Results and Discussion: The application study showed that the present model can predict well the characteristics of the activity concentration for agricultural products and ingestion dose depending on the deposition date. Conclusion: The present model is very useful to predict the radioactivity concentration of agricultural foodstuffs and public ingestion dose as consequence of a nuclear accident. Consequently, it is expected to be used effectively as a module for the ingestion dose calculation of the Korean agricultural contamination management system as well as the Level 3 PSA code, which is currently being developed.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.431-436
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• 2022

For the safety assessment of microbiological and chemical hazards in katsuobushi, fifteen samples of katsuobushi were purchased from supermarkets. The contamination levels of total viable bacteria, coliforms, Escherichia coli, and nine pathogenic bacteria [Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Clostridium perfringens, Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), Yersinia enterocolitica and Campylobacter jejuni/coli] were quantitatively or qualitatively assessed. Additionally, the heavy metals (total and methyl mercury) content, radioactivity (¹³¹ I, ¹³⁴ Cs⁺ and ¹³⁷ Cs) were quantitatively assessed. Microbial and chemical analyses were performed using standard methods in Korean food code. The contamination level of total viable bacteria was 2.70 (1.18-4.42) log CFU/g. Coliforms, E. coli and S. aureus were not detected in any samples. Other eight pathogenic bacteria were negative in all samples. The contamination levels of total and methyl mercury were 0.366 (0.227-0.481) and 0.120 (0.002-0.241) mg/kg, respectively. In addition, radioactivity was not detected in any samples. The results will be helpful in revitalizing domestic use and boosting exports of katsuobushi because the microbiological and chemical safety of katsuobushi has been assured. Furthermore, the results may be used as a basis for performing chemical and microbial risk assessments of katsuobushi.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.454-461
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• 2021

Background: Fish and fishery products (FFPs) unintentionally contaminated with various environmental pollutants are major exposure pathways for humans. To protect human health from the consumption of contaminated FFPs, it is essential to develop a systematic tool for evaluating exposure and risks. Objectives: To regularly, accurately, and quickly evaluate adverse health outcomes due to FFPs contamination, we developed an automated dietary exposure and risk assessment system called HERA (the Human Exposure and Risk Assessment system for chemicals in FFPs). The aim of this study was to develop an overall architecture design and demonstrate the major features of the HERA system. Methods: For the HERA system, the architecture framework consisted of multi-layer stacks from infrastructure to fish exposure and risk assessment layers. To compile different contamination levels and types of seafood consumption datasets, the data models were designed for the classification codes of FFP items, contaminants, and health-based guidance values (HBGVs). A systematic data pipeline for summarizing exposure factors was constructed through down-scaling and preprocessing the 24-hour dietary recalls raw dataset from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNAHES). Results: According to the designed data models for the classification codes, we standardized 167 seafood items and 2,741 contaminants. Subsequently, we implemented two major functional workflows: 1) preparation and 2) main process. The HERA system was developed to enable risk assessors to accumulate the concentration databases sustainably and estimate exposure levels for several populations linked to seafood consumption data in KNAHES in a user-friendly manner and in a local PC environment. Conclusions: The HERA system will support policy-makers in making risk management decisions based on a nation-wide risk assessment for FFPs.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.26-41
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to improve the Original DRASTIC Model (ODM) for the assessment of groundwater contamination vulnerability on the GIS platform. Miryang City of urban and rural features was selected for the study area to accomplish the research purpose. Advanced DRASTIC Model (ADM) was developed adding two more DRASTIC factors of lineament density and landuse to ODM. The fuzzy logic was also applied to ODM and ADM to improve their ability in evaluating the groundwater contamination vulnerability. Although the vulnerability map of ADM was a little simpler than that of ODM, it increased the area of the low vulnerability sector. The groundwater vulnerability maps of ODM and ADM using DRASTIC Indices represented the more detailed descriptions than those from the overlap of thematic maps, and their qualities were improved by the application of fuzzy technique. The vulnerability maps of ODM, ADM and FDM was evaluated by NO3-N concentrations in the study area. It was proved that ADM including lineament density and landuse factors produced a more reliable groundwater vulnerability map, and fuzzy ADM (FDM) made the best detailed groundwater vulnerability map with the significant statistical results.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.55-63
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• 2013

For a large-scale semiconductor manufacturing clean room, the energy consumed in an outdoor air conditioning system to heat, humidify, cool and dehumidify incoming outdoor air is very large. In particular, the energy requirement to humidify outdoor air in the winter season is generally known to be high. Recently, in order to overcome the high energy consumption nature of a steam generator in a conventional steam humidification type outdoor air conditioning system, an air washer is often introduced instead of the steam generator in the outdoor air conditioning system, which can be called a water spray humidification type outdoor air conditioning system. Therefore, the assessment and comparison of the annual energy consumed in the steam humidification type and the water spray humidification type outdoor air conditioning systems deserves to be examined in order to reduce the outdoor air conditioning load of a clean room. In the present study, a numerical analysis was conducted to obtain the annual electric power consumption of the two outdoor air conditioning systems. It was shown from the comparison of the numerical results that the water spray humidification type outdoor air conditioning system can reduce about 30% of annual electric power consumption of the steam humidification type outdoor air conditioning system.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.45-56
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• 2024

Heavy metals emitted from urban development do not decompose in the soil and remain for long periods, continually impacting the environment. Since the mid-1990s, there has been increasing societal concern in South Korea regarding soil contamination, prompting various legislative revisions to reduce pollution. This study utilizes the Environmental Impact Assessment Support System (EIASS) to investigate projects in the metropolitan area that have exceeded the Ministry of Environment's soil contamination concern levels from 1989 to 2022 and to examine improvements in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. The results reveal that the average concentrations of nine contaminants-cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), hexavalent chromium (Cr6+), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), and fluoride (F)-have all increased over the years. Among these, Zn had the highest relative proportion, with 37.5% of the 40 sites exceeding environmental concern levels. Investigation of 19 specific projects at these exceedance sites showed that only 7 had documented analyses of contamination causes and remediation plans, and just one had contracted additional remediation services, though results from these efforts were found to be lacking. Furthermore, since 2019, a significant proportion of these sites were involved in residential developments, likely due to government initiatives in new city development and extensive housing supply plans. This research emphasizes the importance of public disclosure of the processes and outcomes of remediation efforts on historically contaminated soils prior to project development. It discusses improvements to the EIA by reviewing current legislation and international examples. The findings of this study are expected to heighten public awareness about heavy metal contamination and enhance transparency in soil remediation efforts, contributing to sustainable environmental management and development.