• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.672-678
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• 2015

The types of hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) being transported by sea in Korea are at about 6,000, HNS transport volume accounts for 19% of total tonnage shipped in Korea, and the increase rate of seaborne HNS trade in Korea is 2.5 times higher than the average increase rate of the world seaborne HNS trade. Reflecting this trend, HNS spill incidents have been frequently reported in Korean waters, and there are increasing social demands to develop HNS management technology for the preparedness, response, post-treatment and restoration in relation to HNS spill incidents at sea. In this study, a risk-based HNS prioritization system was developed and an HNS risk database was built with evaluation indices such as sea transport volume, physicochemical properties, toxicities, persistency, and bioaccumulation. Risk scores for human health and marine environments were calculated by multiplying scores for toxicity and exposure. The top-20 substances in the list of HNS were tabulated, and Aniline was ranked first place, but it needs to be managed not by individuals but by HNS groups with similar score levels. Limitations were identified in obtaining data of chronic toxicity and marine ecotoxicity due to lack of testing data. It is necessary to study on marine ecotoxicological test in the near future. Moreover, the priority list of HNS is expected to be utilized in the development of HNS management technology and the relevant technologies, after the expert's review process and making up for the lack of test data in the current research results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.846-853
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• 2016

This study prioritizes Noxious Liquid Substances (NLS) transported by sea via a risk-based database containing 596 chemicals to prepare against NLS incidents. There were 158 chemicals transported in Korean waters during 2014 and 2015, which were prioritized, and then chemicals were grouped into four categories (with rankings of 0-3) based on measures for preparedness against incident. In order to establish an effective preparedness system against NLS spill incidents on a national scale, a compiling process for NLS chemicals ranked 2~3 should be carried out and managed together with an initiative for NLS chemicals ranked 0-1. Also, it is advisable to manage NLS chemicals ranked 0-1 after considering the characteristics of NLS specifically transported through a given port since the types and characteristics of NLS chemicals relevant differ depending on the port. In addition, three designated regions are suggested: 1) the southern sector of the East Sea (Ulsan and Busan); 2) the central sector of the South Sea (Gwangyang and Yeosu); and 3) the northern sector of the West Sea (Pyeongtaek, Daesan and Incheon). These regions should be considered special management sectors, with strengthened surveillance and the equipment, materials and chemicals used for pollution response management schemes prepared in advance at NLS spill incident response facilities. In the near future, the risk database should be supplemented with specific information on chronic toxicity and updated on a regular basis. Furthermore, scientific ecotoxicological data for marine organisms should be collated and expanded in a systematic way. A system allowing for the identification Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) should also be established, noting the relevant volumes transported in Korean waters as soon as possible to allow for better management of HNS spill incidents at sea.