• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.57-82
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• 2005

In this study, we propose methods for. the efficient management and integrity of groundwater in response to a diminishing supply. As an alternative water resource for the future. we investigated and comparatively analyzed the quality standards of groundwater in the US (New York, Wisconsin and Texas), Austria, Netherlands, Canada, Japan and United Kingdom. These developed countries heavily depend on groundwater, more than 70%, for drinking water and apply those drinking water standards to groundwater quality. However, there exists few differences in the quality standards of groundwater among the countries, because each country possesses its own individual environment and management. In Korea, surface water pollution is getting serious and its water resources are diminishing. Therefore we propose several new quality criteria that many countries regulate at these days for their efficient management of groundwater. There is a need to divide BTEX criterion into Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene, individually. In. addition, it is needed to establish BTEX criteria into agricultural water and industrial water use standards as well as daily life use standards. Also, regulations for some PAHs, showing carcinogenicity, are required. Due to rapid industrialization various hazardous chemicals were utilized and their uses are increasing each year. Therefore, there is a strong need to introduce n~w standards and tighter regulations of the levels. At the same time, the criterion of nitrogenous compounds need' to be regulated individually in order to prevent the damage incurred by the compounds. Several developed countries have established standards for radon, previously caused environmental accidents in Korea. Therefore, we propose the necessity of groundwater quality standards for radon in this study.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.162-169
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• 2004

Poly[styrene-b-(ethylene-1-butene)-b-styrene] triblock copolymer (SEBS) was functionalized with 0 to 3.0 phr maleic anhydride and the amount of dicumyl peroxide used as an initiator was varied from 0 to 0.3phr. The gel content of the modified SEBS was determined by xylene extraction and poly(oxymethylene) was blended with the modified SEBS. The impact, tensile, flexural strength and morphologies of the blends were investigated. The Izod impact strength of poly(oxymethylene) was improved through its blending with modified SEBS. However, the Izod impact strength of poly(oxymethylene)/modified SEBS blend decreased above 5% modified SEBS content. Regarding the effect of dicumyl peroxide content on the Izod impact strength, the blend had a maximum Izod impact strength when poly(oxymethylene) was blended with modified SEBS prepared with 0.1 phr dicumyl peroxide. It was also confirmed by SEM micrographs that the average particle size of modified SEBS in poly(oxymethylene)/modified SEBS blends was smaller than that of SEBS in poly(oxymethylene)/SEBS blends.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.56-75
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• 2018

Korean Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Stations (PAMS) have been established since the late 2001 to monitor ambient air concentrations of VOC species, which would enhance understanding photo-chemical formation of ozone and subsequently contribute to developing efficient ozone control strategies. The present study aims at identifying major VOC species and examining their trends by analyzing PAMS monitoring data collected from the year 2006 to 2016. All the 18 PAMS sites operated by the Ministry of Environment were included in the study. PAMS monitored the 56 target VOC species, which are classified into four groups, alkenes, lower alkanes ($C{\leq}3$), higher alkanes ($C{\geq}4$), aromatics. The higher alkanes and aromatics dominated over the lower alkanes and alkenes in the type 2 and 3 PAMS sites except Joongheung site. N-butane was a major alkane species, toluene was a major aromatic species and most of VOCs showed decreasing trends in these sites. On the other hand, only the alkenes showed decreasing trends at the Joongheung site in Yeosu. Major sources of abundant species such as ethane, propane, n-butane, toluene were estimated by analyzing seasonal variations, correlation with other VOC species, and emission profiles. A major source of n-butane was identified as LPG cars, while major sources of toluene varied considerably from one site to another. The lower alkanes were composed of ethane and propane, both of which showed a strong seasonal variation, low in the summer and high in the winter, indicating that a major source might be the heating by gaseous fuels. Ozone formation potentials of VOC species were evaluated by applying MIR and POCP to the measured VOC species concentrations. Toluene contributed the most to total ozone forming potentials followed by m,p-xylene for all the type 2 and 3 PAMS sites except for two sites in Yeosu-Gwangyang. Ethylene and propylene were the first and second contributors to total ozone forming potentials at Joongheung site in Yeosu.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.28-34
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• 2005

The aim of this article is to assess the application characteristics of the site by remediating oil-contaminated area using DSB (Deep-site Biopile) system. In the contaminated area, the soil was composed of penetrable sand and the leaked oil was spread widely (total 7,201 cubic meters) through 2.5 meter deep underground water flow. DSB system was operated for 30 minutes intervals for 24 hours in a day (30 minutes opεration and 30 minutes stop). To check contamination level change in the contaminated area after DSB system was operated, samples were taken. The result from the site shows that BTEX/TPH contamination level was dropped 50% after 30-day operation of DSB system, and that contamination level was dropped below contamination level check standard after 165 days and the remediation was completed. Unlike traditional biological remediation methods DSB system could efficiently process soil and water which were contaminated by high levels of oil compounds.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.274-285
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• 2001

In this study, the thermal desorption-cryofocusing-gas chromatographic(TD-C-GC) method was developed for determination of volatile organic compounds(VOCs) in ambient air and was applied at the municipal solid waste landfill sites. On-column cryofocusing was possible only with a 100 ml dewars bottle in TD-C-GC method with a stainless steel column. However, high operating pressure was needed for purging VOCs from the absorbent trap, which was able to solve by pressure programming with a electric pressure controller. By using both pressure and temperature programming brought increasing of resolution power in on-column cryofocusing method, but the high pressure caused a leakage of sample tube with repeated use. A loop cryofocusing devise was also developed and compared with the direct on-column method. In loop cryofocusing method, VOCs were concentrated on a 0.8mm i.d. loop which is located between the injector and separation column by using liquid nitrogen. In order to purge VOCs from the absorbent trap, only 0.4 psi of pressure was need in the loop cryofocusing method. Dual detection system was applied for the analysis of VOCs; a FID was used for hydrocarbons and a FPD was used for sulfur-containing compounds. Qualitative analysis was done by on-column cryofocusing GC-MS system. Among the large number of VOCs, toluene was the most abundant. Hydrogen sulfide, dimethyl sulfide, carbon disulfide, dimethyl disulfide and methyl propyl disulfide were detected at landfill site by FPD.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.169-177
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• 2005

This study focuses on investigating roles of microorganisms in decontamination of reed rhizosphere in Sunchon Bay, Korea, which is considered one of the marsh and mud environment severely affected by human activities such as agriculture and fisheries. In general, the bay is known to play the role of the buffering zone to reduce the sudden impact or change by environmental stresses. In our initial efforts to elucidate the microbial functions in decontamination process in reed rhizosphere, pure bacteria capable of degrading aromatic hydrocarbons were isolated from reed (Phragmites communis) rhizosphere of Sunchon bay by enrichment culture using either benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, or xylene (BTEX) as a sole source of carbon and energy. Measurement of the rates of BTEX degradation and cell growth during the incubation in BTEX media under several temperature conditions demonstrated maximized degradation of BTEX at $37^{\circ}C$ in both strains. Both strains were also resistant to all the heavy metals and antibiotics tested in this study, as well as they grew well at $42^{\circ}C$. Identification of the isolates based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, and a variety of phenotypic and morphologic properties revealed that the two strains capable of BTEX catabolism were among Microbacterium sp., and Rhodococcus sp. with over $95{\%}$ confidence, designated Microbacterium sp. EMB-1 and Rhodococcus sp. EMB-2, respectively This result suggested that in the rhizosphere of reed, one of major salt marsh plants they might play an important roles in decontamination process of reed rhizosphere contaminated with petroleum such as BTEX.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.30 no.7
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• pp.581-591
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• 2020

This study investigated the probiotic properties and physiological activities of Korean fermented foods such as sikhae, young radish kimchi, and bean-curd dregs. Among the isolated lactic acid bacteria, Pediococcus inopinatus BZ4, Lactobacillus plantarum SH1, Lactobacillus brevis SH14, Pediococcus pentosaceus YMT1, and Leuconostoc mesenteroides YMT6 demonstrated a greater than 60% survival rate at pH 2.5, along with an excellent survival rate even at 0.3% bile acid. These five bacteria showed strong flocculation ability in autoaggregation and coaggregation tests, indirectly clustering useful micro-organisms and inhibiting the attachment of pathogenic bacteria. In a cell surface hydrophobicity test, these bacteria showed adhesion to three solvents (ethyl acetate, chloroform, and xylene) and high hydrophobicity, thereby indicating excellent indirect cell adhesion to intestinal cells. The cell-free supernatants and intracellular extracts of the five lactic acid bacteria showed antioxidative activity in the form of 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl and 2,2'-Azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical scavenging ability and lipid peroxidation inhibition. Antimicrobial activities were also observed in four pathogenic bacteria, namely E. coli KCTC 2571, H. pylori HPKCTC B0150, L. monocytogenes KCTC 13064, and S. aureus KCTC 1916. These results demonstrate that these five lactic acid bacteria could be used as probiotics with antioxidant and antimicrobial properties.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.236-242
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• 2005

To develop a new detection method using irradiation-induced volatile marker compounds of red pepper powder (RP), the volatile compounds of irradiated RP (0, 1, 3, 5, and 10 kGy) were analyzed by purge and trap (P&T)/solid phase microextraction (SPME)/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) methods. A total of 51 and 31 compounds were detected in IRP by SPME and P&T methods, respectively. Among these, 25 compounds, which were composed of 4 hydrocarbons, 7 aldehydes, 1 ketone, 3 alcohols, 4 aromatic compounds, 2 esters and 4 miscellaneous compounds, showed irradiation dependent manner with significant positive correlation (p<0.01 or p<0.05) between irradiation dose and relative concentration. However, all compounds except 1,3-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)benzene were not suitable as marker compounds because of their low determination coefficients ($R^2$<0.80) between irradiation dose and their concentrations, and detectablilty in nonirradiated sample. Therefore, only one compound, 1,3-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)benzene, was tentatively identified as a volatile marker compound to detect irradiated RP.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.61-74
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• 2020

This study was conducted to improve the recycling process of waste fluorescent lamp, and investigate the possibility of using the waste fluorescent lamp glass as a raw material for glass beads, the leaching method of rare earth from the waste phosphor powder, and the possibility of solvent extraction of rare earth from the rare earth leaching solution. The waste phosphor contained 28.9% yttrium oxide, 3.46% cerium oxide, 1.95% europium oxide, 1.76% terbium oxide, and 1.43% lanthanum oxide. As a result of the trial production of glass beads using waste fluorescent lamp glass, it was judged that the production yield and quality were excellent, so that waste fluorescent lamp glass could be used as a raw material for glass beads. The soda roasted waste phosphor was leached in water and thereby the aqueous solution was blown with CO₂ to drop the pH to about 7, Then, Al, Si and residual N₂CO₃ were dissolved, and NaAlCO₃(OH)₂ and SiO₂ were precipitated in the aqueous solution. In the solvent extraction of cyanex272-hydrochloric acid, cyanex272-sulfuric acid, D2EHPA-hydrochloric acid, D2EHPA-sulfuric acid, Ionquest290-hydrochloric acid, Ionquest290-sulfuric acid, p507-hydrochloric acid using xylene as a diluent, the extraction yield of Y, Eu, Ce, La, and Tb are close to 100%. However, in this conditions, the difference in extraction yield for each element, that is, selectivity is 16% or less.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.4 no.3 s.11
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• pp.9-18
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• 2000

Accident analysis are useful in the design stage of chemical plants and their surrounding structures. Also, analysis results are required for safety management of existing plants. In this paper, the fire and explosion effect by BTX released was evaluated. The computer program was prepared for accident analysis and adopted for evaluating the magnitude of fire (pool fire) and explosion (UVCE) effect. The thermal radiation was used as a measure of fire magnitude and the overpressure as a measure of explosion magnitude. And probit analysis was made for each case. As a case study, benzene tank model was used. The simulation results of explosion of benzene showed that the damage within 20 meters from the accident spot was severe and the damage beyond 60 meters was negligible. The simulation results of fire of benzene showed that the damage in summer is bigger than that in winter. And the damage of city located inland seems to be bigger than that of city in seaside. And thermal radiation effects was negligible beyond 40 meters-distance from the accident spot.