• Journal of the korean society of oceanography
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.56-64
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• 2000

The importance of terrestrial organic matter as a food source for a brackish water clam Corbicula japonica was evaluated using stable carbon isotope ratios (${\delta}^{13}$C) in its tissues and potential food resources in an estuarine system of Youngil Bay, Korea. Suspended particulate organic matter (POM) had distinct ${\delta}^{13}$C values from riverine (-31.8 to -27.2%$_o$) to marine waters (-21.0 to -16.6%$_o$). Estuarine macroalgae had a wide ${\delta}^{13}$C range of -22.8 to -15.0%$_o$. The ${\delta}^{13}$C values of riverine POM were more negative than that of riverine phytoplankton (-26.5 to -24.2%$_o$) but similar to that of freshmarsh plant species (-29.1 to -27.5%$_o$ for Phragmites communis and -28.5 to -27.0%$_o$ for Salix gracilistyla), These ${\delta}^{13}$C values suggest that the POM transported by the Hyungsan River is predominantly of terrestrial origin rather than riverine autochthonous sources. The ${\delta}^{13}$C values of Corbicula japonica tissues (-28.7 to -27.2%$_o$) were most similar to values for riverine POM and freshmarsh plants. There was no significant difference in the isotopic composition of the clam individuals. The results indicate a predominant contribution of organic carbon derived from terrestrial and fresmarsh plant detritus to the diet of Corbicula japonica. Our results also confirm previous suggestion that terrestrial organic matter can be incorporated into estuarine food webs although its role is confined to the upper estuarine reaches.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.593-602
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• 2016

The physicochemical characteristics of particulate matter emissions from various vehicle's fuel types were studied at the facility of Transport Pollution Research Center(TPRC), National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), Korea. Three different types of fuels such as gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and diesel were tested on the NIER driving mode and the constant speed modes(30, 70, and 110 km/h). Chemical composition of submicron particles from vehicle emissions was measured by the High Resolution Time of Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) during running cycles. Organics were dominant chemical species of particulate matter emissions for all three different vehicles' fuel types. Moreover, regardless of fuel types, emission rate of organics and inorganics decreased as the average speed of vehicle increased. The portion of fully oxidized fragment families of $C_xH_yO_z$ accounted for over 98% of organic aerosol(OA) in LPG and diesel vehicles, while the relatively high fraction of $C_xH_y$ in OA was observed in gasoline vehicle.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2006

A field survey on the spatio-temporal distribution characteristics and origins of organic matter in surface sediments was carried out monthly at six stations in Gamak Bay, South Korea from April 2000 to March 2002. The range of ignition loss(IL) was $4.6{\sim}11.6%(7.1{\pm}1.6%)$, while chemical oxygen demand(CODs) ranged from $12.25{\sim}99.26mgO_2/g-dry(30.98{\pm}19.09mgO_2/g-dry)$, acid volatile sulfide(AVS) went from no detection(ND)${\sim}10.29mgS/g-dry(1.02{\pm}0.58mgS/g-dry)$, and phaeopigment was $6.84{\sim}116.18{\mu}g/g-dry(23.72{\pm}21.16{\mu}g/g-dry)$. The ranges of particulate organic carbon(POC) and particulate organic nitrogen(PON) were $5.45{\sim}23.24 mgC/g-dty(10.34{\pm}4.40C\;mgC/g-dry)$ and $0.71{\sim}2.99mgN/g-dry(1.37{\pm}0.58mgN/g-dry)$, respectively. Water content was in the range of $43.1{\sim}77.6%(55.8{\pm}5.6%)$, and mud content(silt+clay) was higher than 95% at all stations. The spatial distribution of organic matter in surface sediments was greatly divided between the northwestern, central and eastern areas, southern entrance area from the distribution characteristic of their organic matters. The concentrations of almost all items were greater at the northwestern and southern entrance area than at the other areas in Gamak Bay. In particular, sedimentary pollution was very serious at the northwestern area, because the area had an excessive supply of organic matter due to aquaculture activity and the inflow of sewage from the land. These materials stayed longer because of the topographical characteristics of such as basin and the anoxic conditions in the bottom seawater environment caused by thermocline in the summer. The tendency of temporal change was most prominently in the period of high-water temperatures than low-water ones at the northwestern and southern entrance areas. On the other hand, the central and eastern areas did not show a regular trend for changing the concentrations of each item but mainly showed a higher tendency during the low-water temperatures. This was observed for all but AVS concentrations which were higher during the period of high-water temperature at all stations. Especially, the central and eastern areas showed a large temporal increase of AVS concentration during those periods of high-water temperature where the concentration of CODs was in excess of $20mgO_2/g-dry$. The results show that the organic matters in surface sediments in Gamak Bay actually originated from autochthonous organic matters with eight or less in average C/N ratio including the organic matters generated by the use of ocean, rather than terrigenous organic matters. However, the formation of autochthonous organic matter was mainly derived from detritus than living phytoplankton, indicated the results of the POC/phaeopigment ratio. In addition, the CODs/IL ratio results demonstrate that the detritus was the product of artificial activities such as dregs feeding and fecal pellets of farm organisms caused by aquaculture activities rather than the dynamic of natural ocean activities.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.722-733
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• 2013

Ground-based measurements were conducted from August 25 to September 8 of 2011 for understanding characteristics of carbonaceous aerosols measured at Gosan. Chemical components and their sources were discussed by analysis of organic compounds with identification of primary and secondary products in particulate matter. Thus, organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) based on the carbonaceous thermal distribution (CTD), which provides detailed carbon signature characteristics relative to analytical temperature, was used to improve the carbon fractionation of the analytical method. In addition, organic compounds by gas chromatography technique with the backward trajectories were discussed for characteristics of carbonaceous aerosols. Different air-masses were classified related to the OC thermal signatures and the organic molecular markers such as aromatic acids and PAHs. We concluded that the aging process was influenced by the long-range transport from East Sea area.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.479-490
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• 1998

The concentrations of ten inorganic (sodium, chloride, sulfate, ammonia, etc.) and three organic (acetate, formate, and MSA) ions associated with airborne particulate matter were measured from Cheju Island, Korea during the three field intensive campaigns conducted in (1) Sept./oct. 1997 (fall), (2) Dec. 1997 (winter), and (3) April 1998 (spring). The results of our measurements indicated that the concentration levels of most ionic species were decreasing significantly across the three experimental periods. The patterns of concentration reduction were clear as the sum of all cation and anion species changed dramatically across those periods such as 294> 144 > 65 and 193 >96>74 nequiv/m3, respectively. The changes were best explained in terms of the wind rose patterns of the study site. Since our sampling spot is located on the western-end point of Cheju Island, it is likely to reflect the effects of diverse sources such as natural, marine processes during NW and local non-maritime ones during SE winds. .Hence, the periodical changes in ionic concentrations may be accounted for by the comparable changes in wind direction. To further investigate environmental characteristics of these ionic components, correlation analysis was conducted not only between meteorological and ion data but between different ion-pairs. The results of these analyses confirm that the concentration levels of ionic species are strongly affected by wind speed and temperature and that there are certain patterns between ion species to which such effects apply. In light of the significance of the wind rose patterns in the area, we further extended these analyses into four data groups that were divided on the basis of wind direction. The results of these analyses showed that the strength of correlations between important pairs (e.g.:. between windspeed and most of major inorganic species including sodium and chloride) can be ranked on the distribution of major ions are very diverse, depending on data grouping scheme for such analysis. The results of this study thus suggest that environmental behavior of chemical components be analyzed in various respects, rather than simple standard, especially if measurements are made in complex environmental condition under which both natural and anthropogenic effects are competing each other.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.36-47
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• 2020

Three large scale weirs were constructed 2010 - 2011 in the Namhan river, Korea. The purpose of this study was to investigate the spatial distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates and the influence of environmental factors at the weirs 2014 - 2015. The number of species was higher in the riparian zone than in the transition or the limnetic zone. This seems to be because of the diversification of microhabitats and food sources according to the development of littoral zones. From the riparian zone to the limnetic zone, the individual abundance proportion of gathering collectors among functional feeding groups decreased, and that of filtering collectors increased. In the limnetic zone, sprawlers and climbers among habitat orientation groups decreased, and burrowers increased. This means that coarse particulate organic matter originated from land or riparian zone was transformed to fine particulate organic matter in the limnetic zone. Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) and chironomids were dominant species based on individual abundance. Asian clam, a major taxon considering biomass, was abundant toward the limnetic zone. This is becasue of the shallow depth, suitable water current, slightly coarse substrate, and good water quality. There was no significant relationship between the water quality and the characteristics of the benthic macroinvertebrate community because the water quality was spatially not heterogenous. The more influential factors for benthic community were physical factors, especially water depth. Water depth showed a markedly significant correlation with Shannon-Weaver's species diversity (r=-0.90), Margalef's species richness (r=-0.82), and McNaughton's dominance (r=0.86). Water depth showed a positive correlation (r=0.68) with the Kong and Kim BMSI (Bentic Macroinverebrates Streambed Index), and this may be related to the coarse substrate of the limnetic zone.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.401-406
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• 2023

With the development of industry, fine dust is causing difficulties in various fields such as environment, health, and life, and a large amount of pollutants generated from human social activities are emerging as a serious environmental problem due to air pollution. Therefore, in this study, activated carbon was added to remove fine dust and volatile organic compounds by spinning cellulose acetate polymer fibers on a silicon support using the electrospinning method. By varying the activated carbon ratio and electrospinning time, the fine dust blocking effect and toluene adsorption performance were confirmed according to the activated carbon ratio and filter thickness. As a result, it was shown that the particles were effectively blocked with the increase in the electrospinning time due to the filter thickness increase. Adsorbed amount of toluene was increased with increase in activated carbon amount. Light transmittance was decrease with increase in electrospinning time, showing that there were light transmittance in filters electrospun for 20~30 minutes.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.161-168
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to determine the performance characteristics of the paint particulate and volatile organic compounds(VOCs) simultaneous removal from the spraying paint booth in the laboratory and real site by sticky paint particulate and VOCs simultaneous removal demonstration unit. The sticky paint particulate and VOCs simultaneous removal unit is composed of the horizontal type pleated filter modules and the zig-zag type granular activated carbon packing modules. The test conditions at the laboratory are $50.15g/m^3$ of average paint aerosol concentration and 300 ppm of VOCs concentration which were same as the working conditions of spraying paint booth in the real site. But, the demonstration conditions at the real site are varied according to the working condition of spraying paint booth for the kind of passenger car bodies. The test results at the laboratory obtained that 99% of total particulate collection efficiency at 0.62 m/min of filtration velocity and 84% at 1.77 m/min of filtration velocity. The VOCs removal efficiencies are 97% at $3500hr^{-1}$ of gas hour space velocity and 59% at $10,000hr^{-1}$ of gas hour space velocity. In the real site test, the average removal efficiency of PM10 was measured to be 99.65%, the average removal efficiency of PM2.5 was 99.38%, the average removal efficiency of PM1 was 98.52%, and the average removal efficiency of VOCs was 89%.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.19 no.E3
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• pp.99-120
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• 2003

Visibility impairment in an urban area is mainly caused by airborne fine particulate matters. Visibility in a clean air environment is more sensitive to the change of PM$_{2.5}$ particle concentrations. However, a proportionally larger reduction in fine particle concentration is needed to achieve a small increment of visibility improvement in polluted areas. Continuous optical monitoring of atmospheric visibility and extensive aerosol measurements have been made in the urban atmosphere of Kwangju, Korea. The mean for fine particulate mass from 1999 to 2002 at Kwangju was measured to be 23.6$\pm$20.3 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥. The daily average seasonal visual range was measured to be 13.1, 9.2, 11.0, and 13.9 km in spring, summer, fall, and winter, respectively. The mean light extinction budgets by sulfate, nitrate, organic carbon, and elemental carbon aerosol were observed to be 27, 14, 22, and 12%, respectively. It is highly recommended that a new visibility standard and/or a fine particle standard be established in order to protect the health and welfare of general public. Much more work needs to be done in visibility studies, including long-term monitoring of visibility, improvement of visibility models, and formulating integrated strategies for managing fine particles to mitigate the visibility impairment and climate change.e.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.344-352
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• 2023

Background: With its developed port and related industries, the concentration of fine dust is high in Busan compared to other cities in South Korea. Many studies have reported the health effects of fine dust, but there has been a lack of information regarding concentrations of volatile organic compounds among those who exposed to high levels of fine dust. Objectives: This study aimed to define an area with high concentrations of particulate matter and perform biomonitoring surveys among the residents of the area. Methods: Air quality data was collected and the mean level of each district in Busan was derived. We then defined the area with the highest concentrations of PM₁₀ as a target site. Urine samples were collected from the 400 participants and analyzed for VOCs metabolites - trans,trans-Muconic Acid (t,t-MA) and N-AcetylS-(benzyl)-L-cysteine (BMA). Interviews were conducted by trained investigators to examine demographic information. The levels of t,t-MA and BMA were compared with representative South Korean population data (Korean National Environmental Health Survey). The association of the VOC metabolites and fine dust were analyzed by general linear regression analysis. Results: The mean of PM₁₀ in the target site was 42.50 ㎍/m³ from 2018 to 2020. Among the 400 participants in the target site, 74.8% were female and the average age of the participants was 66 years. The geometric mean of t,t-MA was 71.15 ㎍/g creatinine and the BMA was 7.00 ㎍/g creatinine among the residents. The levels were higher than the geometric mean from the 4th KoNEHS. The levels of t,t-MA showed significance in BMI, smoking status, and household income. BMA showed significance in gender and age. Conclusions: Compared to the general population of South Korea, the target site's residents had higher biomonitoring levels. Based on this study, continuous screening for high risk areas, including the target site, and biomonitoring of the residents are required.