• Environmental Sciences Bulletin of The Korean Environmental Sciences Society
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.25-29
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• 2000

The present study evaluated the body burden of aromatic VOCs in roadside and underground storekeepers. The Method Detection Limit(MDL) of the analytical system ranged from 0.2 to 0.4$\mu\textrm{g}$/m3 for the target VOCs. The recovery of the sampling system for the compounds was above 80%. For all the target compounds, the breath concentrations of the smokes were similar to or slightly higher than those of the nonsmokers for both the roadside and underground storekeepers. For Ethylbenzene, p-Xylene, and o-Xylene, the breath concentrations of the underground storekeepers were somewhat higher than those of the roadside storekeepers. In contrast, the breath m-xylene concentration of underground storekeepers was similar to that of roadside storekeepers. For both the roadside and underground storekeepers, the breath concentrations prior to and after work were not significantly different.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.1101-1105
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• 2000

A simultaneous determination method of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o,m.p-xylene) and TPH (kerosene, diesel, jet fuel and bunker C) in soil with gas chromatography/flame ionization detection (GC-FID) was described. The effects of extracti on method, extraction solvent, solvent volume and extraction time on the extraction performance were studied. A sonication method was simpler and more efficient than Soxhlet or shaking methods. Sonication with 10 mL of acetone/methylene chloride (1 : 1, v/v) for 10 min was found to be optimal extraction conditions for 20 g of soil. Peak shapes and quantification of BTEX and TPH were excellent, with linear calibration curves over a wide range of 1-500 mg/L for BTEX and 10-5000 mg/L for TPH. Good reproducibilities by sonication were obtained, with the RSD values below 10%. By using about 20 g of soil, detection limits were 0.8 mg/L for BTEX and 10 mg/L for TPH. The advantages of this procedure are the use of simple and common equipment, reduced volumes of organic solvents, rapid extraction periods of less than 20 min, and simultaneous analysis of volatile and semivolatile compounds.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.625-628
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• 1991

Using uniform flat plate-like samples of ZSM-5 zeolites, diffusion coefficients were measured volumetrically for the diffusion of xylene, ethyltoluene and diethylbenzene by direct measurement of sorption rate. Toluene disproportionation over H(100)-, K(72)-and Cs(82)-ZSM-5 at 773 K and toluene methylation, toluene ethylation and ethylbenzene ethylation over Cs(75)-ZSM-5 at 623 K were carried out. The selective formation of para xylene during the toluene disproportionation, presumably due to the increased tortuosity over Cs-ZSM-5, could be explained by smaller diffusion coefficient in Cs-ZSM-5 than in K-and H-ZSM-5. The para selectivity increased in the order; toluene methylation < toluene ethylation < ethylbenzene ethylation. As the chain length of the alkyl substituent in dialkylbenzenes is increased, the para selectivity of the products was improved. It may be attributed to the differences in the ratios of diffusion coefficient of para products to that of ortho ones. Diffusion coefficient of m-xylene was about 1 order of magnitude smaller than that of o-xylene.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.1463-1464
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• 2011

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.191-192
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• 1999

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.288-298
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• 2004

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.414-418
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• 2014

BACKGROUND: Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX), which are volatile aromatic hydrocarbons and main constituents of gasoline, are neuro-carcinogenic organic pollutants in soil and groundwater. Korea Ministry of Environment has established the maximum permissible level of BTEX in arable soil to 1, 20, 50 and 15 mg/kg, respectively. METHODS AND RESULTS: To understand an arable soil contamination by BTEX, we collected 92 samples from the arable lands around oil reservoir, and analyzed the BTEX residue using a GC-MS with head-space sampler. A linear correlation between BTEX concentration and peak areas was detected with coefficient correlations in the range of 0.9807-0.9995. The method LOQ of BTEX was 0.002, 0.014, 0.084, and 0.038 mg/kg, respectively. Recoveries of 0.5 mg/kg BTEX were found to be 73.7-96.9%. The precision was reliable since RSD percentage (0.7-7.5%) was below 30, which was the normal percent value. Also, BTEX in all samples were detected under the LOQ. CONCLUSION: These results showed that the investigated arable soils around airport and oil reservoir in Korea were not contaminated by oils.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.279-288
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• 1991

Mg- and Zn-ferrites having spinel structure, a kind of complex oxides showing the advantageous properties of constituent single metal oxides, were selected to find a relationship between their catalytic activities in the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene to styrene and the catalytic properties. For the structural and physical analyses of ferrites, XRD, BET, TG/DTA, ESCA, TEM, and TPD methods were employed. The effects of Cr-substitution were intensively studied by the experimental methods mentioned above. Chromium which showed a preferential tendency to diffuse to the surface acted as a structural promoter by increasing surface area and stability of catalyst structure. In the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene, catalytic activity, and the effects of Cr-substitution were investigated. Oxygen mobility was decreased with the amount of Cr-substitution in $MgCr_xFe_{2-x}O_4$, which resulted in the increase of selectivity to styrene and the suppression of total oxidation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.243-247
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• 2009

The usage of ethanol (EtOH)-blended gasoline (gasohol), has been increasing in recent years. EtOH has influence on the distribution and biodegradation of aromatic compounds such as BTEX (benzene (B), toluene (T), ethylbenzene (B), and xylene (X)) that are gasoline compositions. In this study, the effect of EtOH on the aerobic biodegradation of B, T and E was investigated using a BTEX and EtOH-degrading bacterium, Rhodococcus sp. EH831. The degradation rates of B in the conditions of 1:1, 1:4, and 1:0.25 mixtures with EtOH (B:EtOH, mol:mol) were ranged from $3.82{\pm}0.20$ to $5.00{\pm}0.37{\mu}mol{\cdot}g-dry$ cell wight $(DCW)^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$. The degradation rate of T was the fastest in the 1:0.25 mixture ($6.63{\pm}0.06{\mu}mol{\cdot}g-DCW^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$), and it was the lowest in the 1:4 mixture ($4.41{\pm}0.04{\mu}mol{\cdot}DCW^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$). The degradation rates of E were increased with increasing the addition amount of EtOH: The degradation rate of E was the highest in the 1:4 mixture ($1.60{\pm}0.03{\mu}mol{\cdot}g-DCW^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$), and the rates were $1.42{\pm}0.06$, $1.30{\pm}0.01$, and $1.01{\pm}0.30{\mu}mol{\cdot}g-DCW^{-1}{\cdot}h^{-1}$ in the 1:1, 1:0.25, 1.0 mixtures, respectively. In conclusion, the biodegradation of B, T, E by Rhodococcus sp. EH831 was not significantly inhibited by the co-existence of EtOH.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.502-509
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• 1997

Aromatic pollutants(benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes) were photodegraded by using a UV oxidation and the rates of degradation were investigated under various reaction conditions. Each of the solution containing 50 ppm benzene, 150 ppm ethylbenzene and 250 ppm xylenes was found UV-photodegraded over 90% in 1 hour of reaction time, wheras the only was 43 % degradation was obtained with 350 ppm toluene solution. A single component solution was more degradable than a mixed component solution and benzene was almost photodegraded at a pH 4.0, 6.4 and 10.0 after reaction time is 1 hr, ehtylbenzene was photodegraded about 92%(pH 4.0), 90%(pH 6.4) and 91%(pH 10.0), xylenes was photodegraded about 95%(pH 4.0), 90%(pH 6.4) and 92%(pH 10.0), but toluene was photodegraded about 80%(pH 4.0), 43%(pH 6.4) and 70%(pH 10.0), respectively. Kinetics studies show that the rate of decay in TOC(total organic carbon) were pseudo first-order rate except ethylbenzene, and then we could evaluate mineralization rate constants(k) of aromatics.