• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.43-56
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• 2019

Irrigated and flooded rice paddy contributes to the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that affect climate. This in turn affects the supply and reliability of the water needed for rice production. This dynamic makes current rice production methods foreseeably less sustainable over time while having other undesirable effects. Intermittent irrigation by a means of the system of rice intensification (SRI) and alternate wetting and drying (AWD) methods was reviewed to reduce global warming potential (GWP) from 29% to 90% depending on site-specific characteristics from flooded rice paddy and analyzed to be a promising option for enhancing the productivity of water as well, an increasingly constraining resource. Additional benefits associated with the SRI/AWD can be less arsenic in the grain and less degradation of water quality in the run-off from rice paddies. Adoption and expansion of intermittent irrigation of SRI/AWD may require costly public and private investments in irrigation infrastructure that can precisely make irrigation control, and the involvement and upgrading of water management agencies and farmer organizations to enhance management capabilities. Private and public collaboration as a means of earning carbon credit under the clean-development mechanism (CDM) with SRI/AWD for industries to meet as a part of their GHG emission quota as well as a social contribution and publicity program could contribute to adopt intermittent irrigation and rural investment and development. Also, inclusion of SRI and AWD in programs designed under CDM and/or in official development assistance (ODA) projects could contribute to climate-change mitigation and help to achieve UN sustainable development goals (SDGs).

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.306-314
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• 2022

Background: Due to the rapid aging of the South Korean population, neurological diseases such as dementia are increasing. Many studies have reported that the incidence of dementia is associated with environmental factors along with age. Objectives: This study analyzed the association between cognitive function and ten heavy metals in the body: arsenic, aluminum, chromium, manganese, cobalt, nickel, iron, copper, zinc, and lead. Methods: From 2018 to 2019, a total of 120 participants who suffered from cognitive impairment were recruited for this study. Blood and urine samples were collected and analyzed for heavy metal concentrations using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. Demographic information was obtained through face-to-face questionnaires completed by a trained investigator. Cognitive function was evaluated with the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Korean version of the Boston Name Waiting Test. The associations between cognitive function scores and heavy metal concentrations were analyzed using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: The average age of the 120 participants was 72.7 years, and 69.2% were female. The mean of the MMSE-K and K-BNT scores were 22.9 and 37.9, respectively. The geometric mean of aluminum (Al) was 8.42 ㎍/L. MMSE-K was associated with iron (Fe), but the significance was removed in the logistic regression based on 24 points. K-BNT was significantly associated with aluminum and the odds ratio for K-BNT above 38 decreased by 45% as the aluminum concentration increased. Conclusions: The association between aluminum and the K-BNT score indicated that aluminum is associated with language-related cognitive decline. Based on this result, further study will be conducted by considering co-exposure effects of heavy metals including aluminum.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.235-248
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• 2010

To construct the standard methods for evaluation of physicochemical characteristics of tailings in Korea, specific gravity, paste pH, grain size, mineral compositions and heavy metal concentrations of total 26 tailings from 21 metallic mines were analyzed. Specific gravity of tailings ranged from 2.61 to 4.31 (avg. 3.04), and sand and silt grain were dominant in the tailings. Ranges of paste pH were 2.1-9.5 in tailings (7.1-9.2 at magmatic, skarn and hydrothermal replacement deposits and 2.1-9.5 at hydrothermal vein deposits). Additionally, hydrothermal vein deposits could be reclassified into three categories: (1) paste pH>7.0, (2) 4.0

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.328-333
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• 2000

This study was carried out to changes in chemical and microbiological properties of spring waters in Tongyeoung area. In this paper, ninety spring water samples were collected from 9 station for 11 month to evaluated chemical and bacteriological water quality. Range and mean values of constituents of the samples are as followed; water temperature 5.2~25.8$^{\circ}C$, 16.3$^{\circ}C$, pH 6.0~7.2, 6.7, total residue 33.6~210 mg/1, 90.6 mg/1, turbidity 0.35~5.48, 1.45NTU, KMnO4 consumed 0.51~4.21 mg/1, 1.39 mg/1, chloride ion 6.23~42.5, 16.7 mg/l, phosphate-phosphorus ND-0.04, 0.02 mg/1, nitrite-nitrogen ND~0.02, 0.01 mg/1, nitrate-nitrogen ND~3.56, 1.42 mg/1, ammonia-nitrogen ND~0.20, 0.14 mg/1, dissolved total nitrogen ND~3.78, 1.57 mg/1, iron 0.04~0.28, 0.13ppm, zinc 0.03~0.66, 0.20ppm, mangan ND~0.01, allumium 0.14~0.58, 0.39ppm, copper ND~0.01, 0.01, lead ND~0.01, 0.01ppm, Arsenic ND~0.01, 0.01ppm, mercury ND~0.02, chrome not detected, cadmium not detetced respectively. The viable cell counts of the spring waters ranged 5.0~760/m1(means 130/m1). Range and mean value of total coliform and focal coliform MPN's of the spring waters were 0~2,400MPN/100 ml, 73MPN/100 ml and 0~540MPN/100 ml, 21MPN/100 ml. Spring water quality was usually poor with viable cell counts exceeding 130 CFU/liter and the coliform counts in spring waters of 73 MPN/liter. Composition of coliform by IMViC reaction was 33.3% E. coli, 15.6% Citrobacter freundii, 35.6% Klebsiella aerogenes and others.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.39 no.3 s.178
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• pp.213-227
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• 2006

The geochemical evolution of mine drainage and leachate from waste rock dumps and stream water in Pb-As-rich abandoned Sechang mine area was investigated to elucidate mechanisms of trace metals. Total and sequential extractions were applied to estimate the distribution of trace metals in constituent phases of the waste rocks and to assess the mobility of trace metals according to physicochemical conditions. These discharged waters varied largely in chemical composition both spatially and temporally, and included cases with significant]y low pH (in the range 2.1-3.3), and extremely sulphate (up to 661 mg/l and metal contents (e.g. up to 169 mg/l for Zn, 27 mg/l for As, 3.97 mg/l for Pb, 2.99 mg/l for Cu, and 1.88 mg/l for Cd). Arsenic and heavy metal concentrations at the down-stream of Sechang mine have been decreased nearly to the background level in downstream sites (sites 8 and 16) without any artificial treatments. The oxidation of Fe-sulfides and the subsequent hydrolysis, of Fe(II), with precipitation of poorly crystallized minerals, constituted an efficient mechanism of natural attenuation which reduces considerably the transference of trace metals (i.e. Fe and As) to rivers. The dilution of drainage by mixing with pristine waters provoked an additional decrease of trace metal concentrations and a progressive pH increase. On the other hand, the most soluble cations (i.e. Zn) remained significantly as dissolved solutes until the pH was raised to approximately neutral values. With respect to ecotoxicity, it is likely that the Zn pollution is of particular concern in Sechang mine area. This was confirmed by the sequential extraction experiment, where Zn in wet waste-rock samples occurred predominantly in the exchangeable fraction (65-89% of total), while Pb was the highest in the reducible and carbonate fractions, and Cd, Cu and As in the residual fraction. Pb concentration in the readily available exchangeable fraction (34-48% of total) was dominated for dried waste rock samples. Considering the proportion of metals bound to the exchangeable and carbonate fractions, the comparative mobility of metals probably decreased in the order of Zn>Pb>Cd>As=Cu.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.300-307
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• 2012

BACKGROUND: The Transfer Factor (TF) of heavy metals from soil to plant is important, because TF is an indicator of heavy metal in soils and a factor that quantifies bioavailability of heavy metals to agricultural products. This study was conducted to investigate the transfer ability of Arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), and Lead (Pb) from soil to agricultural products. METHODS AND RESULTS: We investigated heavy metals (As, Cd and Pb) concentrations in 9 agricultural products (rice, barely, corn, pulse, lettuce, pumpkin, apple, pear, tangerin) and soil. TF of agricultural products was evaluated based on total and HCl-extractable soil concentration of As, Cd, and Pb. Regression analysis was used to predict the relationship of total and HCl-extractable concentration with agricultural product contents of As, Cd, and Pb. The result showed that TF was investigated average 0.006~0.309 (As), 0.002~6.185 (Cd), 0.003~0.602 (Pb). The mean TF value was the highest as rice 0.309 in As, lettuce 6.185, pear 0.717, rice 0.308 in Cd, lettuce 0.602, pumpkin 0.536 in Pb which were dependent on the vegetable species and cereal is showed higher than fruit-vegetables in As. CONCLUSION(S): Soil HCl-extractable concentration of As, Cd, and Pb had the larger effects on thier contents in agricultural products than total soil concentrations. We suggests that TF are served as influential factor on the prediction of uptake. Further study for uptake and accumulation mechanism of toxic metals by agricultural products will be required to assess the human health risk and need TF of more agricultural products.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.375-387
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• 2012

The objective of this study is investigation of contamination levels and assessment of health risk effects of heavy metals in herbal pills. 31 Items and 93 samples were obtained for this investigation from major herbal medicine producing areas, herbal markets and on-line supermarkets from Jan to Jun in 2010. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer method was conducted for the quantitative analysis of Pb, Cd and As. In addition, the mercury analyzer system was conducted for that of Hg without sample digestion. The average contents of heavy metals in samples were as follows : 0.87 mg/kg for Pb, 0.08 mg/kg for Cd, 2.87 mg/kg for As and 0.16 mg/kg for Hg, respectively. In addition, the average contents of heavy metals in different parts of plants, including cortex, fructus, herba, radix, seed, algae and others were 0.63 mg/kg, 3.94 mg/kg, 1.42 mg/kg, 1.05 mg/kg, 0.16 mg/kg, 22.31 mg/kg and 10.17 mg/kg, respectively. After the estimations of dietary exposure, the acceptable daily intake (ADI), the average daily dose (ADD), the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) and the relative hazard of heavy metals were evaluated. As the results, the relative hazards compared to PTWI in samples were below the recommended standard of JECFA as Pb 3.1%, Cd 0.9%, Hg 0.5%. Cancer risks through slope factor (SF) by Ministry of Environment Republic Korea and Environmental Protection Agency was $4.24{\times}10^{-7}$ for Pb and $3.38{\times}10^{-4}$ for As (assuming that the total arsenic content was equal to the inorganic arsenic). Based on our results, possible Pb-induced cancer risks in herbal pills according to parts used including cortex, fructus, herba, radix, seed, algae and others were $1.95{\times}10^{-7}$, $1.45{\times}10^{-6}$, $2.14{\times}10^{-7}$, $6.27{\times}10^{-7}$, $1.99{\times}10^{-8}$, $3.61{\times}10^{-7}$ and $9.64{\times}10^{-8}$, respectively. Possible As-induced cancer risks in herbal pills by parts used including cortex, fructus, herba, radix, seed, algae and others were $1.54{\times}10^{-5}$, $7.24{\times}10^{-5}$, $1.23{\times}10^{-4}$, $2.02{\times}10^{-5}$, $3.25{\times}10^{-6}$, $2.18{\times}10^{-3}$ and $5.67{\times}10^{-6}$ respectively. Taken together, these results indicate that the majority of samples except for some samples with relative high contents of heavy metals were safe.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.72-84
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• 2008

This study was carried out to provide proper management plans for small portable water supply system in the Nonsan area through water quality monitoring, hydrogeochemical investigation and multivariate statistical analyses. Nonsan area is a typical rural area heavily depending on small water supply system for portable usage. Geology of the area is composed of granite dominantly along with metasedimentary rocks, gneiss and volcanic rocks. The monitoring results of small portable water supply system showed that 13-21% of groundwaters have exceeded the groundwater standard for drinking water, which is 5 to 8 times higher than the results from the whole country survey (2.5% in average). The major components exceeding the standard limits are nitrate-nitrogen, turbidity, total coliform, bacteria, fluoride and arsenic. High nitrate contamination observed at southern and northern parts of the study area seems to be caused by cultivation practices such as greenhouses. Although Ca and $HCO_3$ are dominant species in groundwater, concentrations of Na, Cl and $NO_3$ have increased at the granitic area indicating anthropogenic contamination. The groundwaters are divided into 2 groups, granite and metasedimentary rock/gneiss areas, with the second principal component presenting anthropogenic pollution by cultivation and residence from the principal components analysis. The discriminant analysis, with an error of 5.56% between initial classification and prediction on geology, can explain more clearly the geochemical characteristics of groundwaters by geology than the principal components analysis. Based on the obtained results, it is considered that the multivariate statistical analysis can be used as an effective method to analyze the integrated hydrogeochemical characteristics and to clearly discriminate variations of the groundwater quality. The research results of small potable water supply system in the study area showed that the groundwater chemistry is determined by the mixed influence of land use, soil properties, and topography which are controlled by geology. To properly control and manage small water supply systems for central and local governments, it is recommended to construct a total database system for groundwater environment including geology, land use, and topography.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.319-328
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• 2010

This work was carried out to investigate the quantity of excreta and its composition in crossbred pigs (Yorkshire ${\times}$ Landrace ${\times}$ Duroc) at different stages of growth. Twelve young piglets (average BW weight of $19.0{\pm}0.33kg$) were used in this study. Pigs were divided into four phases during growing time and two phases during finishing time. The average excreta production for growing pig was 3.46 kg/head/day (feces: 1.07 kg, urine: 2.39 kg). The average moisture contents of feces and urine were 70.54% and 97.39%, respectively. Contents of Calcium, Magnesium, Copper, Plumbum, and Arsenic were 1.00%, 0.26%, 10.47 mg/kg, 2.43 mg/kg, and 1.02 mg/kg, respectively. The concentration of the water pollutants like Biochemical Oxygen Demand ($BOD_5$), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Suspended Solid (SS), Total Nitrogen (TN) and Total Phosphorus (TP), excreted from pig were 96335, 61073, 207466, 8104 and 4209 mg/L in feces and 7364, 7149, 2715, 10110 and 613 mg/L in urine at the end of test, respectively. The daily loading amount of water pollutants ($BOD_5$, COD, SS, TN, and TP, respectively) in pig excreta were 102.1, 61.8, 221.6, 8.7, and 3.9 g/head/day in feces, and 19.3, 16.7, 8.0, 22.2, and 1.3 g/head/day in urine, respectively. The Nitrogen, $P_2O_5$, and $K_2O$ contents in the excreta of pigs were 0.96, 0.83 and 0.42% in feces, and 0.80, 0.09 and 0.53% in urine, respectively. Finally, this work was suggested to give basic information to swine farms.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.538-544
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• 1985

This study was carried cut to evaluate the water quality of spring waters in Pusan area(see Fig. 1). In this experiment, twenty-five water samples were collected from 5 stations from December 1983 to August 1984. Range and mean values of constituents of the samples are as follows: pH $5.80{\sim}7.25$, 6.60; water temperature $6.0{\sim}23.0^{\circ}C,\;12.9^{\circ}C$; total residue $33.0{\sim}325mg/l$, 121.2mg/l; alkalinity $4.75{\sim}51.6mg/l$, 24.1mg/l; hardness $9.47{\sim}85.0mg/l$, 30.3mg/l; electrical conductivity $0.495{\sim}2.750{\times}^2{mu}{\mho}/cm,\;1.239{\times}10^2{\mu}{\mho}/cm$;turbidity $0.54{\sim}7.80$NTU, 2.04NTU; $KMnO_4$ consumed $0.51{\sim}8.47mg/l$, 1.96mg/l; chloride ion $4.91{\sim}36.0mg/l$, 12.55mg/l; fluoride ion ND-0.30ppm, 0.08ppm; nitrate-nitrogen ND-8.94mg/l, 1.94m:g/l; nitrite-nirogen ND-0.10mg/l, 0.03mg/l; ammonia-nitrogen ND-0.16mg/l, 0.03mg/l: phosphate-phosphorus ND-0.09mg/l, 0.03mg/l; silicate-silicious $0.42{\sim}22.7ng/l$, 7.96mg/l; copper ND-10.5ppb, 2.46ppb; lead ND-22.7ppb, 3.54ppb; zinc ND-103ppb, 21.33ppb; iron $20.3{\sim}2,800ppb$, 801.72ppb, respectively. Arsenic, cyan, cadmium, manganese, mercury, chrome and phenol were not detected. Total residue, electrical conductivity, turbidity and chloride ion of station 1 (Milrakdong) were higher than others as 178.1mg/l, $2.127{\times}10^2{\mu}{\mho}/cm$, 3.16NTU and 16.32mg/l. The concentration of silicious had a great influence on precipitation. The concentration of fluoride ion of spring waters was lower as 0.08ppm than the criterion for drinking water as 1ppm, while iron was exceed 2.7 times as 801.72ppb.