• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.548-555
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• 2018

Objectives: We conducted ecological risk assessment for cadmium, a heavy metal and carcinogen, to identify safety standards by environmental media and to determine its impact on ecosystems by estimating and evaluating exposure levels. Methods: Species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) were generated using ECOTOX DB. A hazardous concentration of 5% (HC5) protective of most species (95%) in the environment was estimated. Using this estimate, predicted no effect concentrations (PNECs) were calculated for aquatic organisms. Based on the calculated PNECs for aquatic organisms, PNEC values for soil and sediment were calculated using the partition coefficient. Predicted exposure concentrations (PECs) were also calculated from environmental monitoring data with hazard quotients (HQs) calculated using PNECs for environmental media. Results: Chronic toxicity data were categorized into four groups and 11 species. In species sensitivity distribution (SSD) analysis, HC5 was $0.340{\mu}g/L$. Based on this value, the PNEC value for aquatic organisms was calculated as $0.113{\mu}g/L$. PNEC values for soil and sediments using a partition coefficient were calculated as 15.02 mg/kg and 90.61 mg/kg, respectively. In an analysis of environmental monitoring data, PEC values were calculated as $0.017{\mu}g/L$ for water, 1.01 mg/kg for soil, and 0.521 mg/kg for sediment. Conclusions: HQs were 0.150, 0.067 and 0.006 for water, soil and sediment, respectively. HQs of secondary toxicity were 0.365 for birds and 0.024 for mammals. In principle, it is judged that an HQ above 1 indicates a high level of risk concern while an HQ less than 1 indicates an extremely low level of risk concern. Therefore, with HQs of cadmium in the environment being <1, its risk levels can be considered low for each media.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.28
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• pp.13.1-13.5
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• 2013

Objectives: Potential environmental risks caused by chemicals that could be released from a recycled plastic product were assessed using a screening risk assessment procedure for chemicals in recycled products. Methods: Plastic slope protection blocks manufactured from recycled plastics were chosen as model recycled products. Ecological risks caused by four model chemicals - di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), diisononyl phthalate (DINP), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb)-were assessed. Two exposure models were built for soil below the block and a hypothetic stream receiving runoff water. Based on the predicted no-effect concentrations for the selected chemicals and exposure scenarios, the allowable leaching rates from and the allowable contents in the recycled plastic blocks were also derived. Results: Environmental risks posed by slope protection blocks were much higher in the soil compartment than in the hypothetic stream. The allowable concentrations in leachate were $1.0{\times}10^{-4}$, $1.2{\times}10^{-5}$, $9.5{\times}10^{-3}$, and $5.3{\times}10^{-3}mg/L$ for DEHP, DINP, Cd, and Pb, respectively. The allowable contents in the recycled products were $5.2{\times}10^{-3}$, $6.0{\times}10^{-4}$, $5.0{\times}10^{-1}$, and $2.7{\times}10^{-1}mg/kg$ for DEHP, DINP, Cd, and Pb, respectively. Conclusions: A systematic ecological risk assessment approach for slope protection blocks would be useful for regulatory decisions for setting the allowable emission rates of chemical contaminants, although the method needs refinement.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.112-122
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• 2023

To restore the ecological function of contaminated soil and maximize the ecological services provided by the soil, besides the toxicity orrisk caused by pollutants, the functional aspects of the soil ecosystem should be considered. In this study, a method for evaluating the health of cleaned soil was presented, and the applicability of the proposed evaluation method was examined by applying it to soil treated with washing and landfarming. Productivity, habitat, water retention capacity, nutrient cycling, carbon retention capacity, and buffering capacity were used as soil health evaluation indicators. The results showed that the soil health was not completely recovered after remediation, and even in the case of the washed soil, the health was lower than before remediation. On the other hand, there was no significant change in soil quality due to oil pollution, but soil health deteriorated. Unlike the slightly improved soil quality after landfarming treatment, soil health was not completely restored. Therefore, the results of this study indicate that it is desirable to consider both soil quality and health when evaluating the remediation effect. The soil health evaluation method proposed in this study can be usefully utilized for the sustainable use of cleaned soil and to promote ecosystem services.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.173-177
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• 2004

The acute toxicities of two major anti-pathogenic veterinary medicines, i.e., ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin, and six benzimidazole anthelmintics, i.e., albendazole, thiabendazole, flubendazole, febantel, fenbendazole, and oxfendazole, were evaluated with a marine bacterium, Vibrio fischeri, and invertebrate Daphnia magna. These veterinary medical products have been widely used for farm animals, but their impact on aquatic fauna has seldom been investigated. In general, daphnids responded as much as 3 orders of magnitude more sensitively to the tested pharmaceuticals than the microbes. For Daphnia, the most toxic product among the tested anthelmintics was fenbendazole, followed by flubendazole > albendazole ${\approx}$ febantel > thiabendazole > oxfendazole. Daphnids' EC50 values obtained from 48 to 96 hrs of fenbendazole exposure ranged from 2.7 to 6.3 ug/L. The mixture toxicity of the test pharmaceuticals was generally additive in nature and was well predicted by a concentration addition model. Using the predicted no effect concentrations (PNECs) of the benzimidazole derivatives estimated from this study, and predicted environmental concentrations (PECs) of these pharmaceuticals, the risk quotients of each anthelmintics were calculated. Most of the test anthelmintic compounds resulted in risk quotients greater than 1. Especially, risk quotient for fenbendazole was 2,791, which strongly indicates this compound might cause severe ecological consequences, should no future action be taken. This study is the first report on the aquatic toxicities and potential ecological risk of major anthelmintic and antimicrobial veterinary products in Korea. The result of this study provides information necessary for conducting more detailed ecological risk assessment of pharmaceutical products in ambient water and guiding proper management decision.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.441-452
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• 2020

The assessment of the river environment is widely applied as a method to establish the purpose and direction of river rehabilitation projects. This includes surveying and assessing the current state of the river environment and determining whether a previous river project was properly executed. The city of Seoul executed ecological river rehabilitation activities for the tributaries of the Han River from the 2000s following a masterplan to recover the physical shape and ecological functionality of damaged rivers. After the rehabilitation activities, the river environment had been changed substantially. In this study, physical properties, water quality properties, and ecological properties were assessed for 28 tributaries underthe control of the city of Seoul, and then those 3 properties were synthetically reassessed. From the result of the study on the physical properties, it was found that mostrivers had II-III grades. As for water quality properties, rivers had III-IV grades. The damaged rivers showed low grades of D-E based on the Aquatic Ecosystem Health evaluation. Accordingly, we concluded that all rivers of Seoul City have an unhealthy environment in terms of water quality and Aquatic Ecosystem Health, therefore it is regarded that long-term and systematic improvements are required.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.112-119
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• 2021

In 2012, the National Park Service conducted an ecological health assessment to efficiently preserve and manage the ecosystem. The need for improving pre-existing management indicators was recognized from the revised Natural Park Act because, while the indicators of the existing evaluation system focused on endangered species, ecosystem disturbance, diversity, water quality (BOD, DO), and habitat fragmentation, they did not reflect the lack of indicators for marine ecological assessment, policy changes, and the time demands. The evaluation results comprised a five-point grading system, which made the analysis of immediate changes, difficult. Therefore, the benthic pollution index (BPI) and habitat restoration indicators were added to improve the evaluation system. The National Park was assessed using 10 classifications, however, only four classifications were evaluated. The ratings were divided into five states, and ten classes were presented as pictograms. The assessment results showed a similar trend as the indicators were improved, increasing from level 3 to level 5. However, the results of the Wolaksan National Park after improvement in the indicators were lower than that before the improvement, whereas, for the Juwangsan National Park, it was higher. This study aims at contributing to the scientific and systematic management of the national park ecosystem by improving the ecological health assessment system.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.89-94
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• 2013

Diatoms have become an integral part of the UK's freshwater monitoring strategy over the past two decades, mostly in response to increasingly stringent European Union (EU) legislation. The use of diatoms is based on strong correlations between diatom assemblages and environmental variables, and from knowledge of the "expected" (= "reference") state of each river. The nationwide overview of the ecological health of rivers this gives allows those stretches of rivers which fail to meet EU criteria to be identified. This, in turn, allows appropriate remediation measures to be planned. Because diatom assemblages vary in space and time, even within a single water body, effective use of diatoms requires a consistent approach in order to minimise uncertainty. This includes the use of methods which comply with European Standards, a training and accreditation scheme for analysts, and a suite of quality assurance methods. Those aspects of uncertainty that cannot be readily controlled have been quantified and all estimates of ecological status are accompanied by the appropriate "confidence of class" and "risk of misclassification". This, in turn, helps planners prioritise those locations which are most likely to benefit from remediation.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.296-305
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• 2021

This work investigated heavy metal pollution in surface sediments of rivers in Busan, Korea. Surface sediments were analyzed in order to conduct contamination assessment of organic matter, nutrients, and heavy metal concentrations. Contamination assessment of heavy metals was conducted using geoaccumulation index (I_geo), pollution load index (PLI), and potential ecological risk index (RI). Accumulation of organic matter and nutrients were affected by water discharged from sewage treatment plant. The concentrations of organic matter and nutrients were found to be greater in points which were close to the sewage treatment plant more than points furthest. The concentrations of Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, Hg, As, Cr, and Ni were found to be greater in surface sediment more than in the background. The mean concentrations of heavy metals were in the order of Zn (323.5 mg/kg) > Cu (70.5 mg/kg) > Pb (39.8 mg/kg) > Cr (33.4 mg/kg) > Ni (13.5 mg/kg) > As (9.4 mg/kg) > Cd (0.84 mg/kg) > Hg (0.092 mg/kg). The result of geoaccumulation indices indicated that Hg > Cr > Cu > Ni > Zn > As > Pb > Cd were found in order of severe contamination by heavy metals. From PLI and RI analysis, it was evident that the Suyeonggang 2 was the most contaminated river.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.60-75
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• 2022

The Bayesian algorithm model is a model algorithm that calculates probabilities based on input data and is mainly used for complex disasters, water quality management, the ecological structure between living things or living-non-living factors. In this study, we analyzed the main factors affected Korean Estuary Trophic Diatom Index (KETDI) change based on the Bayesian network analysis using the diatom community and physicochemical factors in the domestic estuarine aquatic ecosystem. For Bayesian analysis, estuarine diatom habitat data and estuarine aquatic diatom health (2008~2019) data were used. Data were classified into habitat, physical, chemical, and biological factors. Each data was input to the Bayesian network model (GeNIE model) and performed estuary aquatic network analysis along with the nationwide and each coast. From 2008 to 2019, a total of 625 taxa of diatoms were identified, consisting of 2 orders, 5 suborders, 18 families, 141 genera, 595 species, 29 varieties, and 1 species. Nitzschia inconspicua had the highest cumulative cell density, followed by Nitzschia palea, Pseudostaurosira elliptica and Achnanthidium minutissimum. As a result of analyzing the ecological network of diatom health assessment in the estuary ecosystem using the Bayesian network model, the biological factor was the most sensitive factor influencing the health assessment score was. In contrast, the habitat and physicochemical factors had relatively low sensitivity. The most sensitive taxa of diatoms to the assessment of estuarine aquatic health were Nitzschia inconspicua, N. fonticola, Achnanthes convergens, and Pseudostaurosira elliptica. In addition, the ratio of industrial area and cattle shed near the habitat was sensitively linked to the health assessment. The major taxa sensitive to diatom health evaluation differed according to coast. Bayesian network analysis was useful to identify major variables including diatom taxa affecting aquatic health even in complex ecological structures such as estuary ecosystems. In addition, it is possible to identify the restoration target accurately when restoring the consequently damaged estuary aquatic ecosystem.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.73-83
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• 2013

The object of this study was to evaluate lotic ecosystem health using multiple eco-metric approaches such as water chemistry diagnosis, physical habitat health evaluations, and biological integrity modeling at 100 streams of four major watersheds. For the study, eight chemical water quality parameters such as nutrients (N, P) and organic material were measured and 11-metric models of Qualitative Habitat Evaluation Index (QHEI) and multiple eco-metric health assessment model (MEHA) were applied to the four major watershed. Nutrient analysis of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in all watersheds indicated a eutrophic state depending on the locations of sampling streams. Physical habitat health, based on the QHEI model, averaged 114 (range: 56 - 194), judging as a "good condition" by the criteria of Plafkin et al. (1989). In addition, primary (H1 - H4), secondary (H5 - H7), and tertiary habitat metric variables (H8 - H11) were analyzed in relation to the physical habitat degradations. The plots of tolerant species ($P_{TS}$) and sensitive species ($P_{SS}$) to water quality showed that the proportions of $P_{TS}$ had positive linear functions with nutrients, and that the $P_{SS}$ had inverse linear relations with the chemical variables. The model of eco-metric health assessment showed that mean MEHA was 20.4, indicating a fair condition. Overall, our data suggest that water chemistry, based on nutrients and organic matter, directly modified the trophic structures in relation to food chain in the aquatic ecosystems, and then these directly influenced the compositions of tolerance/sensitive species, resulting in degradations of overall ecological health.