• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.67-74
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• 1990

A methodology for calculating acceptable levels of contamination of radionuclides in soil for unrestricted use was described. Pathways of exposure include direct radiation from ground surfaces, ingestion of contaminated food and inhalation of resuspended radionuclides. Results calculated using site-specific data for Korean environment were discussed and compared with those estimated by other guidelines.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.319-323
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• 2013

The objective of this study was to investigate the microbial contamination levels of ginseng and ginseng products distributed in markets. A total of 81 ginseng and ginseng products samples (fresh ginseng 37, white ginseng 15, red ginseng 15, red ginseng beverage 14) were tested to analyze sanitary indicator bacteria (total aerobic bacteria, coliforms and Escherichia coli), major foodborne pathogens, and fungi. The contamination levels of total aerobic bacteria and coliforms were in the range of 3.19 to 7.02 log CFU/g for fresh ginseng, 0.25 to 7.31 log CFU/g for white ginseng, 0 to 2.89 log CFU/g for red ginseng and 0 to 1.70 log CFU/mL for red ginseng beverage. In case of major foodborne pathogens, B. cereus was detected at levels of 0.50 to 2.41 log CFU/g in samples except red ginseng beverage. Fungi was detected at levels of 2.41 log CFU/g in fresh ginseng, the contamination levels of the other ginseng products samples were lower than 1 log CFU/g or mL. These results indicate that the ginseng and ginseng products were comparatively safe with respect to microbiological hazard.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.13-22
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• 2020

A total of 244 cereal samples (oat, sorghum, adlay, and proso millet) were collected from fields to examine the contamination of Fusarium mycotoxins in cereals during harvest season in 2017 and 2018. The contamination levels of deoxynivalenol (DON), nivalenol (NIV), and zearalenone (ZEA) were analyzed individually by using the immunoaffinity column clean-up method with ultra performance liquid chromatography, and fumonisins (FUM) were analyzed by using the QuEChERS method with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Highest level of NIV contamination (120.0-3277.0 mg/kg) was observed in oat samples among the analyzed cereals. In the adlay samples, DON contamination was the highest (maximum level 730.0 ㎍/kg). The proso millet samples had a high frequency of detection of NIV and ZEA (61.5% and 57.9%, respectively), but the levels were low (average detection level of NIV, 75.6 ㎍/kg, for ZEA, 21.5 ㎍/kg). Among the cereal samples, sorghum had the highest contamination frequency of DON, ZEA, and FUM, and the co-occurrence of Fusarium mycotoxin was 70.0%, which was higher than the average of 29.9%. In order to safely manage Fusarium mycotoxin levels in cereals, continuous research on the development of contamination prevention technologies together with monitoring of mycotoxin contamination is needed.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.437-442
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• 2022

Squid jeotgal is a very popular traditional, salted, and fermented seafood in Korea. Due to the development of a distribution structure, a lot of imported squid jeotgal has recently entered Korea. In this study, we analyzed and compared the microbial contamination levels of domestic and imported squid jeotgal. The total viable bacterial count in domestic and imported jeotgal was 5.20 and 5.38 log CFU/g, respectively. The highest contamination level was 6.94 log CFU/g in one of the imported squid jeotgal samples. Coliforms were not detected in domestic jeotgal but were detected at 50% with 2.21 log CFU/g in imported jeotgal. Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were not detected (ND: <1 log CFU/g) in both domestic and imported jeotgal. All samples of jeotgal were negative for Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens. The microbial contamination levels determined in the current study may be utilized as primary data to execute microbial risk assessments on domestic and (or) imported jeotgal.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-24
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• 2004

Since dioxins became a serious concern in Korea, a significant number of investigations have been conducted to address diverse issues related to dioxins. However, the results have not been organized for ready access and use. The principal purposes of the work were to ⅰ) provide an archive of dioxin researches in Korea and ⅱ) give an overview of dioxin contamination. The focus of this work was placed on the contamination levels and characteristics concerning the waste incinerators emissions, environmental media, and biological samples(fishes/shellfishes, foods, and human body). Principal component analysis was conducted to identify common and/or unique features and the important variables associated with the congener patterns. From a comprehensive search of academic journals, research and monitoring project reports, dissertations, and periodicals of other forms, a total of 115 counts were found that met the purposes of this study. The contamination levels of various samples were summarized and compared to those reported in foreign literatures. The congener patterns varied largely with environmental media and distinguished particularly by OCDD, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDF, and OCDF for the samples within the same media. The proximity to emission sources differentiated the congener patterns in air and soil samples by the fraction of OCDD.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.491-501
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• 2022

This study evaluated the contamination levels of inland pollution sources flowing into Taeanhaean National Park. The nutritional status of influents was assessed by analyzing water quality and trophic status index (TRIX) at 52 stations, and the contamination levels of sediments were evaluated by analyzing eutrophication cleanup index (CIET) and heavy metals at 36 stations. The results of the TRIX analysis showed that 26 of the 52 stations had influents with a TRIX value of 6-10 (poor water quality/very high trophic level), indicating atrocious water quality and high eutrophication levels. The results of the CIET analysis showed that 4 out of the 36 stations were highly contaminated with organic matter. Analysis of heavy metals showed that the copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) levels exceeded the threshold effects level (TEL) and probable effects levels (PEL) at several stations. In addition, the arsenic (As) level exceeded the threshold effects level at one station, and the levels of the other heavy metals (Cd, Cr⁶⁺, Ni, Pb, and Hg) were lower. Most inland pollution sources have been identified as small-scale, but long-term and continuous exposure can negatively affect the marine ecosystem; therefore, it necessary to prepare inland pollution source management standards and measures suitable for the characteristics of the coastal area.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2001.11b
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• pp.377-379
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• 2001

Contamination flashover is responsible for insulator electrical failures. Particularly, in Korea, with its perennially dry spring, the first spring rain often cause serious line outages by forming a conductive liquid film on the insulator surface. Rainwater and fog are not normally conductive but unfortunately atmospheric dust deposited on the insulator surface contains soluble salts which may lead to bad condition of insulation by combining watery and salts. Transmission design engineers have used a contamination map drawn on the traditional paper map. But it is not convenient because it does not include the information of Geographic Information accurately. This paper explains the newly developed salt contamination map program using Geographic Information System, which provide accurate geographic information. The program is designed to use four parts of datum, salt contamination levels, 345kV & 154 kV transmission lines, power plants & substations and background map. The digital background map is composed of raster files, the others are done by vector map.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.323-329
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• 2013

Strawberries are among the leading ready-to-eat agricultural products that have superior taste and nutrition. Thus, consumer concerns about the safety of eating strawberries are growing. To evaluate the contamination levels of strawberries according to their cultivation methods (nutriculture, pesticide-free culture and organic farming) and parts [fruit (flesh), stalk (pedunle) and leaf (calyx)], 1,020 parts of strawberry samples were collected at 12 farms in Nonsan-si and quantitatively or qualitatively examined for the indicators of food safety and food poisoning bacteria. The total aerobic bacteria count in the whole samples was 2.3~6.8 ${\log}_{10}$ CFU/g, and coliform bacteria were detected in 14.2% of the whole samples with a contamination level range of 2.1~4.5 log CFU/g. E. coli were detected in 0.9% of the whole samples with a contamination level range of 2.1~2.8 log CFU/g. The analysis of the bacterial levels according to the cultivation methods showed that the total aerobic bacteria and coliform counts were higher in the strawberries that were grown via organic farming than in those that were grown via nutriculture and pesticide-free culture. However, the E. coli counts of the strawberries that were grown via organic farming and via pesticide-free culture were similar and differed from that of the strawberries that were grown via nutriculture. The analysis of the contamination levels according to the parts of the strawberries showed that the total aerobic bacteria, coliform and E. coli counts of the fruits, stalks and leaves of the strawberries did not significantly differ. Staphylococcus aureus was detected in two organically grown strawberries, but Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 were not detected in the whole samples. These results show that the bacterial contamination levels of the strawberries differed based on their cultivation methods. Thus, a suitable method of reducing the bacterial contamination levels of strawberries according to their farming methods is needed.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.563-570
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• 2018

Ballast layer has an important role in vertical stiffness and stability of railway track. In most of the Middle East countries and some of the Asian ones, significant parts of railway lines pass through desert areas where the track (particularly ballast layer) is contaminated with sands. Despite considerable number of derailments reported in the sand contaminated tracks, there is a lack of sufficient studies on the influences of sand contamination on the ballast vertical stiffness as the main indicator of track stability. Addressing this limitation, the effects of sand contamination on the mechanical behavior of ballast were experimentally investigated. For this purpose, laboratory tests (plate load test) on ballast samples with different levels of sand contamination were carried out. The results obtained were analyzed leading to derive mathematical expressions for the strain modulus ($E_V$) as a function of the ballast level of contamination. The $E_V$ was used as an index for evaluation of the load-deformation characteristics and bearing capacity of track substructure. The critical limit of sand contamination, after which the $E_V$ of the ballast reduces drastically, was obtained. It was shown that the obtained research results improve the current track maintenance approach by providing key guides for the optimization of ballast maintenance planning (the timing of ballast cleaning or renewal).

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.333-340
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• 2010

This study was conducted to evaluate the microbial contamination levels in the processing company of Nuroong-ji. Microbial contamination levels were examined for sanitary indication bacteria such as aerobic plate count, coliforms and fungi, and pathogenic bacteria such as Escherchia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes. Contamination levels were detected differently according to handling materials and purposing work-space. The equipments and raw materials were not seriously contaminated but there were necessary to attend the cross-contamination. A high contamination level was detected at the process where the interference of the employees was relatively higher than the other process. Standardization of the roasting process (l20~$170^{\circ}C$, about 10 min) could be necessary to control the microbial organism effectively on Nuroong-ji manufacturing process. At small/medium size foodstuff manufacturers, it is the most important to improve the recognition level of individual hygiene but also expand a hygiene facility.