• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.28
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• pp.9.1-9.5
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• 2013

Objectives Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a powerful tool for assessing exposure in epidemiologic studies. We used GIS to determine the geographic extent of contamination by perfluorooctanoic acid, C8 (PFOA) that was released into the environment from the DuPont Washington Works Facility located in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Methods Paper maps of pipe distribution networks were provided by six local public water districts participating in the community cross-sectional survey, the C8 Health Project. Residential histories were also collected in the survey and geocoded. We integrated the pipe networks and geocoded addresses to determine which addresses were serviced by one of the participating water districts. The GIS-based water district assignment was then compared to the participants' self-reported source of public drinking water. Results There were a total of 151,871 addresses provided by the 48,800 participants of the C8 Health Project that consented to geocoding. We were able to successfully geocode 139,067 (91.6%) addresses, and of these, 118,209 (85.0%) self-reported water sources were confirmed using the GIS-based method of water district assignment. Furthermore, the GIS-based method corrected 20,858 (15.0%) self-reported public drinking water sources. Over half (54%) the participants in the lowest GIS-based exposure group self-reported being in a higher exposed water district. Conclusions Not only were we able to correct erroneous self-reported water sources, we were also able to assign water districts to participants with unknown sources. Without the GIS-based method, the reliance on only self-reported data would have resulted in exposure misclassification.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2003

In August-September 2001, 15 samples of bottom sediments were collected in the inner, middle and open parts of Amursky Bay near Vladivostok, Russia, and barfin plaice Pleuronectes pinnifasciatus was sampled from the inner and the middle locations of the bay. In the sediments from all three sites elevated concentrations of several heavy metals, i.e. Zn ($102-115{\mu}/g$ dry weight), Ni $(70-73{\mu}g/g)$ and Cu $(27-35{\mu}g/g)$ were discovered. The contents of oil hydrocarbons were very close to or slightly higher than the maximal normal environmental background level, $100{\mu}g/g$ dry weight. The sediments contained negligible amounts of hexachlorocyclohexane, while DDT concentrations were quite high (1.7-16.3ng/g dry weight). Generally, there were no substantial differences in the pollution levels of the locations studied and our results resembled those reported for Amursky Bay in the 1990s. Surprisingly, in 2001 'fiesh' DDT comprised 70-85% of the total DDT content in sediment from all the locations studied. In fish liver total DDTs concentrations were 212.8 and 122.54 ng/g wet weight for the inner and the middle locations, respectively, and 'fresh' DDT comprised 35 and 64% of DDTs, respectively. These results provide evidence of recent input of DDT from an unknown source into the ecosystem of Amursky Bay. Histopathological changes revealed in the plaice liver (vacuolization of hepatocytes, coagulative necrosis of hepatocytes, inflammatory reaction, and necrosis of epithelial cells of bile ducts) are probably connected with an intensive metabolism of DDT in the fish organism. No histological and histomorphometric differences were found in the state of the interrenal tissue. Similar condition of the liver and the interrenal tissue in barfin plaice sampled from the inner and the middle locations of Amursky Bay may be explained by the absence of great differences in the pollution levels of these sites.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.6434-6440
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• 2013

In this paper, an integrated control system is proposed for automatic control and remote monitoring of pipeline type UV sterilizer. The proposed system can control the cleaning wiper in the sterilizer with various cleaning motions, and periodically check the contamination level of the UV lamps with the UV power sensors. Therefore, sterilizer repair and maintenance can be more effectively done. In addition, the control system based on the open-source processor can communicate with external smart devices via Bluetooth, and thus wirelessly exchange control commands and sensor data. Furthermore, the system is able to flexibly cope with changes of cleaning motions and sensors since its firmware can be wirelessly upgraded by using the smart device. Consequently, the proposed system is suitable to construct a smart sewage treatment system in small towns.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.116-124
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• 2020

This study aims to identify the characteristics of organic matter and pollutant sources using water quality and stable isotope ratios (δ¹⁵N, δ¹³C) of the two inflow tributaries (Gulpo (GP) and Anyang (AY) streams). Water samples were analyzed in June and September 2018, and the results showed that the concentrations of nutrients, such as TN and NO₃-N, were increased at GP4, which is located at the downstream of sewage treatment facilities(STFs). TOC and TN ratios showed a strong positive correlation (R² = 0.77, p<0.01) at all points except for GP4. The results of GP's stable isotope ratio analysis do not appear to be a constant cluster compared to AY because GPs with large amounts of pollutants from the industry (metal processing companies, etc.) have less tributary, shorter waterway and significantly different external sources. This could be attributed to different sources of external inflow despite its smaller number of tributaries and shorter waterways than AY. In the first half of the year, the δ¹⁵5N of GP4 was affected by discharge of STFs, while AY3 seemed to have an influence of tributary than the discharge of STFs. Consequently, using water quality, stable isotope ratio and C/N, the sources of contamination in two streams with different contaminants were identified and origin was estimated.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.235-242
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• 2014

Uranium can be released into the water environment from natural sources and human activities. The natural source of uranium is dominant in the Korean soil and groundwater environments. Uranium has both of radioactive and chemical toxic properties. Therefore, a drinking water contaminated with uranium has a high health risk. This study was conducted to determine the uranium concentration of water systems including small village drinking water system, groundwater for drinking water purpose, spring water, groundwater monitoring well, and emergency water suppling system. The uranium concentration was compared with domestic and other countries' standard. The contamination level was also evaluated on the basis of geological characteristics of the area. Among total 803 samples, 6 exceeded the Korean standard, $30{\mu}g/{\ell}$ and this was about 0.7% of the total sample. On the basis of geology, uranium concentration appeared to be increased in order of biotite granodiorite > biotite granite > gneissoid granite. The highest level of uranium was 12.4 in average.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.386-391
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• 2007

Mercury contamination and its health effects have become major concern of environmental health study in Korea. Mercury exposure of some group were investigated to get the accurate data for policy making and study. About 2,000 children at 26 elementary schools participated in this survey to evaluate the exposure levels and to investigate main exposure source of mercury. Analysis of mercury levels in the whole blood and urine samples were conducted and questionnaire survey was done about the factors influencing exposures simultaneously. Mercury exposure levels of domestic children were N.D. to 17.26 ppb in blood, 0.17 to $21.67{\mu}g/g$-creatinine in urine. The mean(arithmetic) levels are 2.42 ppb in blood and $2.53{\mu}g/g$-creatinine in urine. Both of them were below the recommendation levels of US EPA and German CHBM I $5.8{\mu}g/l$ and $5{\mu}g/l$ in blood, $5{\mu}g/g$-creatinine of German CHBM I in urine. But 1%, 0.51% of levels in blood exceed the level of CHBM I and US EPA, 8%, 0.85% of children were over the level of CHBM I and CHBM II in urine. Multi-valuable regression analysis showed that the existence of road near the residence in addition to the preference for fish have significance with blood mercury exposure level of domestic children. The existence of factory near the house and the experience of dental amalgam treatment had statistical relations with urine mercury level.

• The Korean Journal of Ecology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2001

Tributyltn, triphenyltin and their degradation products were quantitatively determined in sediments, seawater, and oysters (Crassostrea gigas) collected from Okpo Bay, Korea where a huge shipyard was located. The concentrations of TBT in sediment and oyster were in the range of 5∼2,050 ng/g and 387∼1,190 ng/g (astin on a dry weight basis), respectively. In seawater, it ranged from 19 to 84 ng/ℓ The distribution of TBT compound showed negative gradient from inner to outer bay, which indicates that the shipyard is the point source of TBT contamination in the bay. The contribution of TBT to butyltin concentration in sediment was above 57%. The pattern of TBT distribution was influenced by waterbreak transected the bay. TPhT concentration in oyster ranged from nd (not detected) to 52 ng Sn/g dry wt., whereas that in sediment and seawater was below detection limit. The biological concentration factor (BCF) in oyster was 1.1×10⁴.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.293-304
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• 2006

Sea water samples collected in August, 1994 from 20 stations in the Kwangyang Bay were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry-selected ion monitoring (GC/MS-SIM) to investigate persistence and distribution pattern of four organophosphorus pesticides (DDVP, Diazinon, IBP, EDDP). Except for IBP, the contamination by DDVP, Diazinon, and EDDP in marine aquatic environment in Korea has not been reported previously. In this study, however, all these four pesticides were detected in all stations (except DDVP) and their concentrations were in ng/L level. The concentrations ranged from detection limit to 15.3ng/L for DDVP, 1.8-27.7ng/L for Diazinon, 7.3-63.5ng/L for IBP, and 22.2-1100.1ng/L for EDDP. It is noteworthy that the measured concentrations of IBP and EDDP in this study would be much lower than usual, since the use of IBP and EDDP was less than 50% of average annual consumption due to unusually dry and hot weather condition in the summer of 1994. It was very surprising to find that the highest concentrations of organophosphorus pesticides were observed at stations near Daesa Streamlet instead of Seomjin River, which has more point source of the pesticides. This result suggests that the small river discharge during heavy ram period in summer can give harmful effect on marine biota (both wild and aqua-cultured) with its organophosphorus pesticide residue, despite of their short residence time in aquatic environment. In order to protect the marine life properly from acute toxicity of the organophosphorus pesticides, it needs to be emphasized that monitoring the level of agricultural pesticides in river run-off should be done during active consumption period rather at regular intervals.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.234-240
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• 2016

We examined the diffusion of contaminants released from the southern coast around Fukushima, Japan, during the passage of typhoons using a three-dimensional numerical model (POM) to track diffusing radioactivity (RA) released from the nuclear power plant at Fukushima following the accident caused by the giant tsunami event in March 2011. Radioactive contaminants released during the passage of typhoons may have significantly affected not only Japanese but also Korean coastal waters. The model domain covered most of the northwestern Pacific including marginal seas such as the East/Japan Sea and the Yellow Sea. Several numerical experiments were conducted case studies focusing on the westward diffusion from the southern coast of Japan of contaminants derived from the source site (Fukushima) according to various attributes of the typhoons, such as intensity, track, etc. The model produced the following results 1) significant amounts of contaminants were transported in a westward direction by easterly winds favorable for generating a coastal air stream along the southern Japanese coast, 2) the contaminants reached as far as Osaka Bay with the passage of typhoons, forced by a 5-day positive sinusoidal form with a (right-) northward track east of Fukushima, and 3) the range of contamination was significant, extending to the interior of the East/Japan Sea around the Tsugaru Strait. The model suggests that contaminants and/or radioactivity released from Fukushima with the passage of typhoons can affect Korean waters including the northeastern East/Japan Sea around the Tsugaru Strait, especially when the typhoon tracks are favorable for generating a westward coastal air stream along the southern Japanese coast.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.439-446
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• 2016

Toxoplasmosis is a protozoan disease that is caused by Toxoplasma gondii in livestock and humans. Due to its medical and veterinary importance, it is essential to study the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection among humans and animals in various parts of the world. The major objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence and spatial distribution of toxoplasmosis in small ruminants (sheep and goats) of north-eastern region, Pakistan. A total of 1,000 animals comprising of sheep (n=470) and goats (n=530) were examined for T. gondii infection by using ELISA. An epidemiological data was collected in the form of questionnaire. A surface has been generated by using method of interpolation in Arc GIS with the help of IDW (inverse distance weight). The results showed higher seroprevalence of T. gondii in goats (42.8%) as compared to sheep (26.2%). The seroprevalence was higher in females as compared to males in all examined ruminants. Similarly, there is a wide variation in the seroprevalence of T. gondii in different breeds of sheep and goats showing higher seroprevalence in Teddy (52.8%) and Damani breed (34.5%) of goat and sheep's, respectively. The geographical and spatial distribution of T. gondii shows that it is widely distributed in different parts of the north-eastern region of Pakistan. Our results suggest widespread environmental contamination with T. gondii oocysts and that small ruminants could be a potentially important source of T. gondii infection if their infected meat is consumed undercooked.