• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.529-542
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• 2020

The cesium (Cs) sorption characteristics of a bead-type polysulfone carrier contained HNO₃-treated bamboo charcoal (3 - 5 mm in diameter) in water system were investigated and its Cs removal efficiency as an adsorbent from water was also identified by various laboratory experiments. From the results of batch sorption experiments, the bead-type polysulfone carrier with only 5% HNO₃-treated bamboo charcoal (P-5NBC) represented the high Cs removal efficiency of 57.8% for 1 hour sorption time. The Cs removal efficiency of P-5NBC in water after 24 hours reaction maintained > 69% at a wide range of pH and temperature conditions, attesting to its applicability under various water systems. Batch sorption experiments were repeated for P-5NBC coated with two cultivated microorganisms (Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus drentensis), which were typical indigenous species inhabited in soil and groundwater. The Cs removal efficiency for two microorganisms coated polysulfone carrier (BP-5NBC) additionally increased by 19% and 18%, respectively, compared to that of only P-5NBC without microorganisms coated. The average Cs desorption rate of P-5NBC for 24 h was lower than 16%, showing the Cs was stably attached on HNO₃-treated bamboo charcoal in so much as its long-term use. The maximum Cs sorption capacity (q_m) of P-5NBC calculated from the Langmuir isotherm model study was 60.9 mg/g, which was much higher than those of other adsorbents from previous studies for 1 h sorption time. The results of continuous column experiments showed that the P-5NBC coated with microorganisms packed in the column maintained > 80% of the Cs removal efficiency during 100 pore volumes flushing. It suggested that only 14.7 g of P-5NBC (only 0.75 g of HNO₃ treated bamboo charcoal included) can successfully clean-up 7.2 L of Cs contaminated water (the initial Cs concentration: 1 mg/L; the effluent concentration: < 0.2 mg/L). The present results suggested that the Cs contaminated water can be successfully cleaned up by using a small amount of the polysulfone carrier with HNO₃-treated bamboo charcoal.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.429-434
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• 2012

The objective of this study was to identify Pb pollution sources of sediments in Lake Andong. We analysed Pb isotopes in sediments from Lake Andong, soils and mining tails from the watershed as well as sludges and wastewater from zinc smelting facilities which exists in upper stream of Lake Andong. The Pb isotope ratios ($^{207}Pb/^{206}Pb$ and $^{208}Pb/^{206}Pb$) for sediments are $0.827{\pm}0.004$ and $2.041{\pm}0.015$, which showed similar values with those of mining tails, $0.815{\pm}0.002$ and $2.016{\pm}0.006$, respectively. The isotopic ratio values of soils existed in the range of 0.756~0.881 and 1.872~2.187. In imported zinc ores, the isotopic ratio values existed in the range of 0.816~0.956 (mean 0.832) and 2.029~2.219 (mean 2.059). These values were similar to those in zinc and lead concentrate originated from Canada and South America. Additionally, isotopic ratio values for sludge and wastewater were $17.515{\pm}0.155$, $15.537{\pm}0.018$, and $37.357{\pm}0.173$, respectively. The Pb isotopic ratio of sediments showed binary combination patterns with soil and mining tails, which were similar to those for Korean Pb ore.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.273-282
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• 2011

This study established hazards which may cause risk to human at farm during cultivation stage of paprika. Samples of plants (paprika, leaf, stem), cultivation environments (water, soil), personal hygiene (hand, glove, clothes), work utensils (carpet, basket, box) and airborne bacteria were collected from three paprika farms (A, B, C) located in Western Gyeongnam, Korea. The collected samples were assessed for biological (sanitary indications and major foodborne pathogens), chemical (heavy metals, pesticide residues) and physical hazards. In biological hazards, total bacteria and coliform were detected at the levels of 1.9~6.6 and 0.0~4.610g CFU/g, leaf, mL, hand or 100 $cm^2$, while Escherichia coli was not detected in all samples. In major pathogens, only Bacillus cereus were detected at levels of ${\leq}$ 1.5 log CFU/g, mL, hand or 100 $cm^2$, while Staphylococuus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli O157 and Salmonella spp. were not detected in all samples. Heavy metal and pesticide residue as chemical hazards were detected at levels below the regulation limit, physical hazard factors, such as insects, pieces of metal and glasses, were also found in paprika farms. Proper management is needed to prevent biological hazards due to cross-contamination while physical and chemical hazards were appropriate GAP criteria.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.33-37
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• 2006

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria Standl.) has been used as a rootstock for the watermelon cultivation because of better growth ability at low temperature and avoidance from contamination of the soil disease. Since the genetic source for the elite rootstock is limited in nature, the genetic engineering method is inevitable to develop new lines especially to obtain the functionally important or multi-disease resistant bottle gourd. Recently, our lab has set up a successful system to transform the bottle gourd. in order to monitor the transformation process, GFP gene is used. Cotyledons of the inbred line 9005, 9006 and G5 were used to induce the shoot under the selection media with MS + 30 g/L sucrose + 3.0 mg/L BAP + 100 mg/L kanamycin + 500 mg/L cefotaxime + 0.5 mg/L $AgNO_3$, pH 5.8. The shoot was developed from the cut side of the explants after 3 weeks on the selection media. The shoot was incubated in the rooting media with 1/2 MS + 30 g/L sucrose + 0.1 mg/L IAA + 50 mg/L kanamycin + 500 mg/L cefotaxime, pH 5.8 and moved to pot for acclimation. Although the shoot development rate was depended on the genotype, the G5 was the best line to be transformed. Monitoring GFP expression from the young shoot under microscope could make the selection much easier to distinguish the transformed shoot from the non-transformed shoots.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.575-589
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• 2009

Groundwater has been extracted for irrigation in Sacheon-Hadong area, which is close to the South Sea. We analyzed chemical components of groundwater to examine the effects of seawater intrusion and agricultural activities in the study area. Most groundwater samples displayed the Na/Cl concentration ratios similar to that of seawater (0.55) with an increasing tendency of electrical conductivity ($227-7,910\;{\mu}S/cm$) towards the coast. In addition, statistical interpretation of the cumulative frequency curves of Cl and $HCO_3$ showed that 30.1% of the groundwater samples were highly affected by seawater intrusion. Groundwaters in the study area mostly belonged to the Ca-Cl and Na-Cl type, demonstrating that they were highly influenced by seawater intrusion and cation exchange. The result of oxygen-hydrogen isotope analysis demonstrated slightly higher $\delta^{18}O$ ((-8.53)-(-6.13)‰) and ${\delta}D$ ((-58.7)-(-43.7)‰) comparing to mean oxygen-hydrogen isotope ratios in Korea. As a result of nitrogen isotope analysis, the $\delta^{15}N-NO_3$ values ((-0.5)-(19.1)‰) indicate two major sources of nitrate pollution (organic nitrogen in soil and animal and human wastes) and mixed source of the two. However, denitrification may partly contribute as a source of nitrogen. According to factor analysis, four factors were identified among which factor 1 with an eigenvalue of 6.21 reflected the influence of seawater intrusion. Cluster analysis indicated the classification of groundwater into fresh, saline, and mixed ones.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.69-78
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• 2010

In order to investigate the degree of household dust contamination, 48 samples of household dust (24 from urban area and 24 from rural area) in Daegu city were collected in vacuum cleaner during January to February 2009. Samples were sieved below 100 ${\mu}m$, and 14 elements (Al, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, V, Zn) were analyzed using ICP after acid extraction. Results obtained from the source assessment of trace elements using enrichment factor showed that Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, and V were influenced by natural sources such as weathered rock and resuspended soil, while Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn were influenced by anthropogenic sources such as fuel combustion and waste incineration. Concentrations were remarkably higher in components from natural sources than in components from urban anthropogenic sources. Household dust in urban area was more affected by anthropogenic sources compared with that of rural area. Pollution index of heavy metals revealed that urban area was 1.8 times more contaminated with heavy metal components than rural area. The correlation analysis among trace elements indicated that components were correlated with natural sources-natural sources (Al-Mg, Al-Mn, Fe-Mn) and natural sources-anthropogenic sources (Al-V, Fe-Cr, V-Mn) in both urban area and rural area. Trace element components of rural area were more correlated than those of urban area. Houses that use oil for heating fuel had relatively higher contents of heavy metals rather than those using gas or electricity for heating fuel. Houses with children also had higher contents of heavy metals. In addition, the age of houses was found to influence the heavy metal levels in household dusts, with older houses (>10years) having higher concentrations than newer houses (<10years) and houses located near the major road (<10 m) were found to have relatively higher heavy metal levels in household dust.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.39-53
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• 2001

Environmental pollution of the Tohyun mine creek area was investigated on the basis of geology, mineralogy and geochemistry. In soils and sediments of the mine area, ${Al_2}{O_3}/{Na_2O}$ and ${K_2}O/{Na_2}O$ ratios are partly negative correlation against ${SiO_2}/{Al_2}{O_3}$, respectively. Geochemical characteristics of some trace and rare earth elements such as V/Ni, Ni/Co, La/Ce, Th/Yb, Th/U, La/Th, ${La_N}/{Yb_N}$, La/Sc and Sc/Th are revealed a narrow range and homogeneous compositions may be explained by simple source lithology. These results suggest that sediments source of the host shale around the mine area could be originated by basic to intermediate igneous rocks. Mineral compositions of soil and sediment near the mine area were partly variable mineralogy, which are composed of quartz, mica, feldspar, chlorite, clay minerals and some pyrite. Soils and sediments with highly concentrated heavy minerals, gravity separated mineralogy, are composed of some pyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, goethite and various kinds of hydroxide minerals on the polished sections. As normalized by bed rock composition, average enrichment indices of major elements in sediments, precipitates, farmland soils and paddy soils are 1.0, 1.7, 0.9 and 0.8, respectively. Maximum concentration of environmental toxic elements in the mine creek are detected with Ag = 186 ppm, As = 17,100 ppm, Bi = ]27 ppm, Cd = 77 ppm, Cu = 12,299 ppm, Pb = 8,897 ppm, Sb = 1,350 ppm, W = 599 ppm and Zn = 12,250 ppm, which are increasing with total FeO increasing, and extremely high concentrations of surface sediments and precipitates near the waste rock dump. These toxic elements (As, Bi, Cd, Cu, Pb, Sb, W and Zn) of the samples, normalizing by host rock concentration, revealed that average enrichment index is 106.0 for sediments, 279.6 for precipitates, 3.5 for farmland soils and 1.6 for paddy soils. However, on the basis of EPA values, enrichment indices of all the samples are 40.7, 121.4, 1.3 and 0.6, respectively.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.651-660
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• 2007

Acid drainage has been recognized as an environmental concern in abandoned mine sites for long time. Recently, the environmental and structural damage by acid drainage is a current issue in construction sites in Korea. Here, the author introduces the type of damages by acid drainage in construction sites and emphasizes the importance of geoscience discipline in solving the problem. Metasedimentary rock of Okcheon group, coal bed of Pyeongan group, Mesozoic volcanic rock. and Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks are the major rock types with a high potential for acid drainage upon excavation in Korea. The acid drainage causes the acidification and heavy metal contamination of soil, surface water and groundwater, the reduction of slope stability, the corrosion of slope structure, the damage on plant growth, the damage on landscape and the deterioration of concrete and asphalt pavement. The countermeasure for acid drainage is the treatment of acid drainage and the prevention of acid drainage. The treatment of acid drainage can be classified into active and passive treatments depending on the degree of natural process in the treatment. Removal of oxidants, reduction of oxidant generation and encapsulation of sulfide are employed for the prevention of acid drainage generation.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.66-85
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• 2002

Traditional herbal medicine is used extensively among the Korean populations, and other Asian countries employ similar therapies as well In recent years, extensive focus was laid on adulteration of the herbal medicine with heavy metals. This may be mainly due to a soil contamination by an environmental pollution. The objective of this study is to identify the contents of various heavy metals in the blood from OhJeokSan-Decoction (OD) treated-rats. For this study, 13 kinds of metals including essential and heavy metals, i.e. Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn were analyzed by a slight modification of EPA methods and the following results are obtained. ; 1. There is no significant difference between the OD-treated groups and control group in liver, kidney, bone, brain, weight, food intake. 2. The amount of each metal analyzed in the liver are as follows; Al ; $0.235{\sim}4.215mg／kg$, As ; $0.103{\sim}0.461mg／kg$, Cd ; $0.005{\sim}0.010mg／kg$, Co ; $0.017{\sim}0.046mg／kg$, Cr ; $0.137{\sim}0.403mg／kg$, Cu ; $1.736{\sim}4.827mg／kg$, Fe ; $54.472{\sim}381.447mg／kg$, Hg ; not detected, Mn ; $1.159{\sim}2.803mg／kg$, Ni ; $0.007{\sim}0.095mg／kg$, Pb ; not detected, Se ; $0.682{\sim}1.887mg／kg$, Zn ; $10.213{\sim}26.119mg／kg$, by groups, respectively. In control and other experimental group, several metal (Co, Cu, Mn, Zn, As, Cr) has a significant difference, but in experimental I and other experimental II, III, IV, V groups, there are no significant difference. 3. The amount of each metal analyzed in the kidney are as follows; Al ; $1.712{\sim}31.230mg／kg$, As ; $0.062{\sim}0.439mg／kg$, Cd ; $0.010{\sim}0.062mg／kg$, Co ; $0.000{\sim}0.101mg／kg$, Cr ; $0.125{\sim}0.636mg／kg$, Cu ; $3.385{\sim}12.502mg／kg$, Fe ; $41.148{\sim}99.709mg／kg$, Hg ; $0.000{\sim}0.270mg／kg$, Mn ; $0.433{\sim}2.301mg／kg$, Ni ; $0.000{\sim}0.221mg／kg$, Pb ; $0.000{\sim}0.584mg／kg$, Se ; $0.540{\sim}1.600mg／kg$, Zn ; $8.775{\sim}17.060mg／kg$, by groups, respectively. The concentration of Cu, Se, Cr, and Hg are variated significantly in control and other experimental group, and Cu, Se, Cd, Cr are variated significantly in experimental I and other experimental II, III, IV, V groups. 4. The amount of each metal analyzed in the bone(tibia and fibula) are as follows; Al ; $9.557{\sim}119.464mg／kg$, As ; $0.139{\sim}12.250mg／kg$, Cd ; $0.000{\sim}0.295mg／kg$, Co ; $0.022{\sim}0.243mg／kg$, Cr ; $0.239{\sim}1.999mg／kg$, Cu ; $0.000{\sim}2.291mg／kg$, Fe ; $240.249{\sim}841.956mg／kg$, Hg ; $0.000{\sim}0.983mg／kg$, Mn ; $0.214{\sim}7.353mg／kg$, Ni ; $5.473{\sim}11.453mg／kg$, Pb ; $0.000{\sim}8.502mg／kg$, Se ; $0.000{\sim}3.005mg／kg$, Zn ; $61.158{\sim}195.038mg／kg$, by groups, respectively. The concentration of Se, Cd are variated significantly in control and other experimental groups, and Se is variated significantly in experimental I and other experimental II, III, IV, V groups. 5. Exceptionally several metal concentration is increased or decreased. but there is no significant harmful difference of metal concentration in the liver, kidney and bone, from the OD-treated-rats compared to those of the control group even if higher dosage($1{\sim}8$ times dosage of person) of OD was administered. Thus, it is expected that the herbal decoction in the traditional herbal medicine would not lay any burden on the body and the heavy metal toxins would not affect our physiological system. However, other kinds of herbal treatment, such as i.v. and i.p. should be considered in terms of metal toxicity in the body since the level of certain metal.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.249-257
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• 2015

The purposes of this study were to develop a small scale post-harvest facility, and consequently to evaluate the effects of applying the facility along with hygiene education on the level of microbial safety in Korean leeks production. A total of 135 samples were collected at three Korean leeks farms in Yangju, Gyeonggi province. Food safety indicators (Aerobic plate count (APC), coliform count, and Escherichia coli) and foodborne pathogens (E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Bacillus cereus) on/in the samples were assessed. The microbial load measured as APC with harvesting tools such as comb, chopping board, and knife, at the farms where the small scale post-harvest facility had been operated (Farms A and B) was lower than that at another farm having no post-harvest facility (Farm C) by 1.44~2.33 log CFU / $100cm^2$. Moreover, the chopping board from Farm C was observed being contaminated with B. cereus at 6.03 log CFU / $100cm^2$. The coliform counts from the samples increased by 0.57~1.89 log CFU/g after leeks was submerged in ground water for washing. E. coli was recovered from leeks, soil, and the ground water used in the washing process, while no E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and L. monocytogenes was detected. Our results indicated that the small scale post-harvest facility developed in this study as well as the hygiene education played an important role in enhancing the level of microbial food safety in the leeks production environment. However, a disinfection technique could be needed during the washing step in order to prevent a potential contamination.