• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.99-107
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• 2001

PCBs(Polychlorinated biphenyls) in air and plants were measured every two weeks at Hankyong University located in Ansung, Kyoung ki province from July to November in 1999. The percentage of tri-CBs(PCB 28) and tetra-CBs(PCB 52) is 49% of the total PCBs in air, which shows these two components are the major congeners. A correlation coefficient(r) of PCB congeners detected in two plants is 0.83 (p<0.01), indicating that the plants can be used as a passive sampler to indirectly estimate the pollution levels of residual PCBs in the environmental even if they have different physicochemical properties. The average ratio of PCB 110/PCB 52 is higher in plants as 0.5, 2.9 and 2.5 respectively in the air and mulberry leaves as well as scallions, which comes from the higher lipophilicity of PCB 110 rather than the ratio of PCB 110/PCB 52 in the air.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.347-354
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• 2004

We collected crucians (Carassius auratus) and leopard frogs(Rana pipiens) along the Nakdong River and the basin area at five locations from Koomi to Nakdong-estuary. The muscular tissue were separated and a GC-MSD system was used for quantification of PCBs. The 62 PCB congeners which represent total PCB levels were selected as analytes. We determined concentrations of PCBs and studied distribution characteristics by individual congeners and homologs. In the crucian, 24 congeners were detected and total PCB levels ranged from 0.74 to 5.41 ng/g wet weight. In the leopard frog, however, only 2 congeners were detected from Nakdong estuary only. The PCB level was 0.24 ng/g wet weight, around 22 times lower than the crucians. The PCB 153 showed the highest concentrations in the congeners and penta- and hexa-CBs showed the strong predominance which accounted for 78% of the total PCBs.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.309-319
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• 2003

This study was performed to describe analysis method of 209 PCB congeners in ambient air samples. The samples were collected by high volume air sampler in Chonju city. Extracted samples were cleaned by silicagel cleanup modified with sulfuric acid and activated carbon cleanup processing. The cleaned samples were analyzed by high resolution gas chromatography and high resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS) with DB-5 column (60 m, 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25 m film thickness) to analyze the 209 kinds of PCB congeners. PCBs levels of air samples were detected to the range between 0.003 and $0.163pg-TEQ/m^3$. The PCBs congener of 162 kinds were detected in samples analysed using DB-5 column and 37 kinds peaks were overlapped with congeners more than one. It is difficult to isolate PCB 118/106 and PCB 105/127 in coplanar PCB, so it is likely to overestimate the concentration.. The distribution of coplanar-PCB congeners in origin source samples (Kanechlor and exhaust gas from incinerator) was compared with that in air samples, and PCB 81, PCB 77, PCB 126, and PCB 169 were higher in incinerator samples.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.239-245
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• 1997

The sorption kinetic was studied to evaluate feasibility of removing PCBs from mineral oil with activated carbon. Adsorption efficiency for Aroclor 1242 which is composed of lower chlorinated PCB formulations was $\geq$ 95%, whereas the adsorption efficiency for Aroclor 1260 having higher chlorinated constituents was considerably lower with the efficiency falling to 75%. The observed difference in the adsorption efficiency is attributed to the geometry of PCBs with non-planar and coplanar structure. The concentration of coplanar PCBs is appreciably higher in Aroclor 1242. Since toxicity is primarily associated with coplanar congeners, the preferential adsorption of coplanar congeners by activated carbon accounts for the fact that toxicity reduction can be achieved through this process. The efficiency of process was assessed in terms of Toxicity Equivalence Factor (TEF).

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2016

As of many organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls are ubiquitous organic contaminants, which can be found in the most environmental matrices. Their toxic effects include endocrinedisrupting activity. Most researches with these toxicants performed with mixtures of congeners, namely Aroclor and related study has been done in complex environmental matrix, rather than single biosystems or pure congeners. 5 congeners were synthesized and their fates in pure microbial culture (Aspergillus niger) were determined in this study. Among biphenyl and synthetic congeners, biphenyl, PCB-1 (2-chlorobiphenyl), and PCB-3 (4-chlorobiphenyl) were rapidly transformed to hydrophilic metabolites, followed by PCB-38 (3,4,5-trichlorobiphenyl), while the degradation of PCB-126 (3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl) was not observed. The amounts of transformation for biphenyl, PCB-1, PCB-3, and PCB-38 were 65, 38, 52, and 2% respectively. The major metabolites of the above congeners were identified as mono- and di-hydroxy biphenyls, which are known to give adverse endocrinological effects.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.1564-1571
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• 2008

We investigated whether the threshold concentration for polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) dechlorination may be lower in biosurfactant-amended sediments compared with biosurfactant-free samples. At PCB concentrations of 40, 60, and 120 ppm, the surfactant amendment enhanced the PCB dechlorination rate at all concentrations and the rate was also faster at higher concentrations. On a congener group basis, dechlorination proceeded largely with group A (congeners with low threshold) in both surfactant-free and -amended sediments, accumulating mainly group C (residual products of dechlorination) congeners, and surfactant enhanced the dechlorination rate of group A congeners. Since the PCB threshold concentration for the inoculum in the experiment was lower than 40 ppm, we carried out another experiment using sediments with lower PCB concentrations, 10, 20, and 30 ppm. Sediments with 100 ppm were also performed to measure dechlorination at a PCB saturation concentration. Comparison between the plateaus exhibited that the extent of dechlorination below 40 ppm PCBs was much lower than that at a saturation concentration of 100 ppm. There was no significant difference in the extent of dechlorination between surfactant-free and -amended sediments. Moreover, surfactant did not change the congener specificity or broaden the congener spectrum for dechlorination at PCB concentrations below 40 ppm. Taken together, it seems that at a given PCB concentration, dechlorination characteristics of dechlorinating populations may be determined by not only the congener specificity of the microorganisms but also the affinity of dechlorinating enzyme(s) to individual PCB congeners.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.166-173
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• 2003

To determine levels of PCBs in food, beef, pork, chicken, egg, mackerel, yellow croaker, anchovy, common squid and little neck clam were chosen and collected at markets in Seoul, Busan and Kwangju. Among 209 PCB congeners, 7 congeners (#28, #52, #101, #118, #138, #153 and #180) were selected as target compounds that were known as indicator congeners. Samples were homogenized, treated in alkali solution for 1 hour, and extracted with organic solvents. After extraction, extracts were cleaned up by sulfuric acid, purified on silica gel column chromatography, analyzed by dual column-HRGC/ECD and then confirmed by HRGC/MSD. As results, PCBs were detected in fish samples ranged from 0.0002 to 0.001 mg/kg. Both PCB #101 and PCB #118 were the major contributors among 7 congeners.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.203-210
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• 2016

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ubiquitous environmental contaminants, found in the many environments. PCBs exerts various toxicological effects, including endocrine-disrupting activity. Most researches with these toxicants performed with soil matrix with mixtures of congeners, namely Aroclor, while the biological activities have been tested with animals. However, studies with pure congeners are limited. In this study, 5 congeners were synthesized and their fates (bioaccumulation, degradation, kinetics) were studied in carrot-soil system. The soil half-lives of biphenyl, PCB-1, PCB-3, PCB-77, and PCB-126 were 20.2, 16.0, 11.6, 46.5, 198.0 days, respectively. In general, the longer half-lives were observed with the higher hydrophoicity of PCBs. Times, required for maxium accumulation of PCBs in carrot (Tmax) were 10-20 days for most congeners and the concentrations were 0.4-2.6 mg/kg. The concentrations of PCBs in carrot were kept as constant after Tmax, except PCB-126. The concentration ratio between carrot and soil after 90 days of treatment were 1.7, 8.1, 1.9, 1.8, and 5.9 for biphenyl, PCB-1, PCB-3, PCB-77, and PCB-126. Because of the increase of biomass, the total residual amount of PCBs in carrots however, increased till the end of experiment. The portions of PCB-126 in carrot were 1.1% of the soil residues at 90 days after planting.

• Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.102-107
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• 2007

Environmental contamination becomes a great public concern as our society gets industrialized rapidly. The present study examine the role of chitosan in a effort to intervene the environmental pollutant-induced toxicity. PCB-induced neurotoxicity with respect to the PKC signaling was examined. Since the developing neuron is particularly sensitive to PCB-induced neurotoxicity, we isolated cerebellar granule cells derived from 7-day old SD rats and grew cells in culture for additional 7 days to mimic PND-14 conditions. PCB showed the alteration of PKC signaling pathway. The alteration was structure-dependent. Mono-ortho-substituted congeners at a high dose showed a significant increase of total PKC activity at [$^3H$]PDBu binding assay, indicating that mono-ortho-substituted congeners are more neuroactive than non-ortho-substituted congeners in neuronal cells. PKC isoforms were immunoblotted with respective monoclonal antibodies. PKC-beta II and -epsilon were activated with mono-ortho-substituted congeners exposure. The result suggests that the position with ortho has a higher potential of altering the signaling pathway. Alteration of PKC was blocked with treatment of high molecular weight of chitosan. The study demonstrated that the ortho position in PCBs are important in assessing the structure-activity relationship. The results suggest a potential use of marine bioactive materials as a means of nutritional intervention to prevent the harmful effects of pollutant-derived toxicity.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.829-838
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• 2005

In order to investigate the residual amounts of organochlorines and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Korean human tissues (blood, adipose tissue, liver, kidney cortex, and lung), the samples were collected from the autopsied cadavers of 40 men and 40 women (from teens to seventies of age). ${\alpha}-BHC,\;{\beta}-BHC,\;{\gamma}-BHC,\;{\delta}-BHC$, p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDE, endrin, dieldein, aldrin, and 7 marker PCBs (28, 52, 101, 118, 138, 153, and 180) were determined in human tissues. The levels of organochlorines and PCB congeners indicated that they have been widely distributed in Korean human body. Positive correlations in terms of age were observed for the following cases: p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDT, ${\Sigma}-DDT$, PCB 118, PCB 138, PCB 153, and ${\Sigma}-PCB$ in the adipose tissue, and p,p'-DDE in the lung. Concentration of these compounds showed a significant age-related increase. Accumulation of these compounds in aged people revealed that these compounds were more slowly eliminated in our environment and risk assessment was necessary for further proper action. Significant differences in the levels of PCBs between genders were found for PCB 118 in the adipose tissue and PCB 138 in the liver. Positive correlation coefficients between tissues were detected with p,p'-DDE and ${\beta}-BHC$.