• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.3-15
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• 2003

Recently more than 450 incidents of oil spill a year have occurred in nearshore of Korea, which caused unmeasurelable losses in fisheries and severe damage in marine ecosystem. Two approaches remain paramount in any response to marine oil spill : the enhancement of natural dispersion of the oil by using dispersants, and mechanical recovery using booms and skimmers. A technique currently receiving fresh attention is the enhancement of the natural bioremediation of oil through the application of micro-organisms and/or nutrient. Oil, like many natural substances, will biodegrade over a period of time into simple compounds such as carbon dioxide, water and biomass. Bioremediation is the term used to describe a range of processes which can be used to accelerate natural biodegradation. More specifically biostimulation is the application of nutrients, and bioaugremetation or seeding is the addition of microbes specially selected to degrade oil. Bioremediation is an economically attractive method for the clean-up of oil-contaminated area. Bioremediation has been demonstrated to be an effective oil spill countermeasure for use in cobble, sand beach, salt marsh, and mud flat environment.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.529-540
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• 2012

Objective: This research was performed to evaluate the state of oil pollution in an area surrounding a railway station that has over 100 years of business history as a railway station in S City, Korea. The amount of polluted soil was estimated, and the target area for remediation was assessed in this study to restore the oil-polluted area. Methods: To accomplish this aim, five observation wells were installed for the sampling of groundwater, and soil was sampled at 33 points. Electric resistance studies and a trench investigation were undertaken to understand the geological conditions of the site, and the groundwater movement in this area was simulated by MODFLOW. Physiochemical analyses were conducted to determine the quality of the groundwater and the current state of oil pollution influenced by that of the soil. Results: The mean level of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) in this area was 1,059 mg/kg, and the area for remediation was determined to be 7,610 mg/kg. Levels of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) were determined to be under the legal standard. Conclusion: In terms of depth, the biggest area polluted by TPH found was between 0 and 1 m from ground level, and the affected area was 5,900 $m^3$. TPHs were not detected in groundwater. Diesel and lubricating oil were the main causes of TPH pollution at this railway station.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.207-220
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• 2020

Clay soils have a big potential to become contaminated with the oil derivatives because they cover a vast area of the earth. The oil derivatives diffusion in the soil lead to soil contamination and changes the physical and mechanical properties of the soil specially clay soils. Soil stabilization by using new material is very important for geotechnical engineers in order to improve the engineering properties of the soil. The main subjects of this research are a- to investigate the effect of the cement and epoxy resin mixtures on the stabilization and on the mechanical parameters as well as the microstructural properties of clay soils contaminated with gasoline and kerosene, b- study on the phenomenon of clay concrete development. Practical engineering indexes such as Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS), elastic modulus, toughness, elastic and plastic strains are all obtained during the course of experiments and are used to determine the optimum amount of additives (cement and epoxy resin) to reach a practical stabilization method. Microstructural tests were also conducted on the specimens to study the changes in the nature and texture of the soil. Results obtained indicated that by adding epoxy resin to the contaminated soil specimens, the strength and deformational properties are increased from 100 to 1500 times as that of original soils. Further, the UCS of some stabilized specimens reached 40 MPa which exceeded the strength of normal concrete. It is interesting to note that, in contrast to the normal concrete, the strength and deformational properties of such stabilized specimens (including UCS, toughness and strain at failure) are simultaneously increased which further indicate on suitability and applicability of the current stabilization method. It was also observed that increasing cement additive to the soil has negligible effect on the contaminated soils stabilized by epoxy resin. In addition, the epoxy resin showed a very good and satisfactory workability for the weakest and the most sensitive soils contaminated with oil derivatives.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.28
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• pp.10.1-10.4
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• 2013

Objectives Children are one of the most vulnerable populations to the impact of disasters. We aimed to examine children's mental health in the area affected by the Hebei Spirit oil spill accident on December 7, 2007. Methods A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted using the Korean versions of the Children's Depression Inventory and State Anxiety Inventory for Children on 1,362 children attending elementary schools in the affected area. The information on distances between the nearest contaminated coastline to the child's residential house or attending school were obtained using a web-based map by inputting two address points. The symptom risks of depression and state anxiety were estimated by multiple logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, gender, and other covariates. Results Children with the closest distance (in the fourth quartile) to the school from the contaminated coastline showed a significantly higher symptom risk of depression compared to those with the farthest distance (first quartile)(odds ratio, 2.73; 95% confidence interval, 1.40-5.33), while there was no significant association between anxiety symptoms and distance. Conclusions Children, a vulnerable population for mental health impact by the oil spill accident, should be included in mental health programs in the community along with their family as victims of the disaster.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.70-79
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• 2013

Since crude oil contains various pollutants including heavy metals, the environmental impact should be assessed for heavy metals as well as oil itself. In order to estimate the extent of heavy metal contamination, surface sediments were collected at the intertidal and coastal zone around the Herbei sprit oil spill area during December 2007 and January 2008. Organic carbon, sulfur and heavy metals were determined to assess heavy metal contamination in sediments. The crude oils contained C, S, V and Ni, but little toxic metals such as As, Cd, etc. From organic carbon content, the highest contaminated site was estimated that oils contributed to sediments up to 10%, and this site showed high V concentration. Potentially contaminated sediments by crude oil could be differentiated from unaffected sediments through V/Al and Ni/Al ratios, which can be used as indicators of oil contamination even after the oils were fully degraded.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.74-81
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was conducted to explore the health effects of exposure to oil-contaminated water in G village near the area of Daecheon beach on which air force had test fired. Methods: Eighty residents consented and were divided into three groups; 33 residents(drinking well water and still living there), 23 residents(drinking well water but do not live there any more), and 24 residents(did not drink well water but live there now: control group). Data were collected from August to September, 2010 from the survey questionnaires, general health examination, specific functional test, and biological marker tests. Results: Current residents showed higher levels of body mass index, blood pressure, and fasting blood glucose that are related to adult diseases. 64 participants received specific test for cancer. Only one person had esophageal cancer. Perchloroethylene was not found in the Urine Samples. Current residents showed a higher level of 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, an indicator of oxidative damage, and there was a statistically significant difference after correcting the confounding variables. Conclusion: We need education programs for managing the risk factors that are related to adult diseases in people who are now living in this village. We also need to expand further studies for investigating oxidative damage indicators.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.437-443
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• 2003

Bioremediation technologies were applied to experimental microcosms, simulating an oil spill in a lower intertidal area. Three treatments (oil only, oil plus nutrients, and oil plus nutrients and microbial inocula) were applied, and each microcosm was repeatedly filled and eluted with seawater every 12 h to simulate tidal cycles. To minimize washing-out of the inoculum by the tidal cycles, microbial cells were primarily immobilized on diatomaceous earth before they were applied to the oiled sand. Oil degradation was monitored by gravimetric measurements, thin layer chromatography/flame ionization detector (TLC/FID) analysis, and gas chromatography (GC) analysis, and the loss of oil content was normalized to sand mass or nor-hopane. When the data were normalized to sand mass, no consistent differences were detected between nutrient-amended and nutrient/inoculum-amended microcosms, although both differed from the oil-only microcosm in respect of oil removal rate by a factor of 4 to 14. However, the data relative to nor-hopane showed a significant treatment difference between the nutrient-amended and nutrient/inoculum-treated microcosms, especially in the early phase of the treatment. The accelerating effect of inoculum treatment has hardly been reported in studies of oil bioremediation in the Tower intertidal area. The inoculum immobilized on diatomaceous earth seemed to be a very effective formulation for retaining microbial cells in association with the sand. Results of this study also suggest that interpretation of the effectiveness of bioremediation could be dependent on the selection of monitoring methods, and consequently the application of various analytical methods in combination could be a solution to overcome the limitations of oil bioremediation monitoring.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.11
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• pp.1511-1517
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• 2011

We isolated a potent phenanthrene-degrading bacterium from oil-contaminated soils of Suzhou, China, and assessed the potential use of these bacteria for bioremediation of soils contaminated by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a microcosm. Based on 16S rDNA sequencing, we identified this bacteria as Sphigobacterium sp. SW-09. By PCR amplification, we also identified catechol 2,3-dioxygenase genes (nahH genes) mediating PAH degradation. Staphylococcus sp. KW-07, which has been identified in our previous study, showed potential for use in bioremediation of oil-contaminated soils. In this experiment, we compared the rate of phenanthrene-degradation between Staphylococcus sp. KW-07 and Sphingobacterium sp. SW-09 in a microcosm condition. Newly isolated Sphingobacterium sp. SW-09 showed a higher phenanthrene-degradation rate than that of Staphylococcus sp. KW-07 in soil microcosms. Together, our results suggest that the Sphingobacterim sp. SW-09 strain isolated from the Suzhou area may also be useful in bioremediation of PAH-contaminated soils.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.38 no.6_1
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• pp.1479-1488
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• 2022

Accidents in which oil spills occur intermittently in the ocean due to ship collisions and sinkings. In order to prepare prompt countermeasures when such an accident occurs, it is necessary to accurately identify the current status of spilled oil. To this end, the Coast Guard patrols the target area with a fixed-wing airplane or helicopter and checks it with the naked eye or video, but it was difficult to determine the area contaminated by the spilled oil and its exact location on the map. Accordingly, this study develops a technology for direct ortho-rectification by automatically geo-referencing aerial images collected by the Coast Guard without individual ground reference points to identify the current status of spilled oil. First, meta information required for georeferencing is extracted from a visualized screen of sensor information such as video by optical character recognition (OCR). Based on the extracted information, the external orientation parameters of the image are determined. Images are individually orthorectified using the determined the external orientation parameters. The accuracy of individual orthoimages generated through this method was evaluated to be about tens of meters up to 100 m. The accuracy level was reasonably acceptable considering the inherent errors of the position and attitude sensors, the inaccuracies in the internal orientation parameters such as camera focal length, without using no ground control points. It is judged to be an appropriate level for identifying the current status of spilled oil contaminated areas in the sea. In the future, if real-time transmission of images captured during flight becomes possible, individual orthoimages can be generated in real time through the proposed individual orthorectification technology. Based on this, it can be effectively used to quickly identify the current status of spilled oil contamination and establish countermeasures.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.346-351
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• 2010

The purpose of this work was to investigate the characteristics of a biosurfactant-producing bacterium isolated from crude-oil contaminated soils. During the incubation of strain HK-3 with 1% crude-oil, bacterial growth pattern, the amount of biosurfactant production, and pH changes were monitored. In order to examine the effect of supplemented carbons on the production of biosurfactant, cultivation of HK-3 cells in BH media with different carbons (e.g. glucose, dextrose, mannitol, citrate, or acetate) revealed that the production of biosurfactant reached the maximal level at the 72 h incubation with mannitol, which the area of clear zone was measured to approximately 7.64 $cm^2$. Identification test using the BIOLOG system, morphology study based on scanning electron microscopy and the 16S rRNA sequence-based phylogenetic analysis assigned strain HK-3 to a Pseudoalteromonas species, designated as Pseudoalteromonas sp. HK-3 which was registered in GenBank as [FJ477041].