• Water for future
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.477-486
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• 1990

The domain of contaminated groundwater flow is a broad and multidisciplinary field requiring expertise in engineering, geology, chmistry and toxicology, and is an ideal area for the application of Expert System. The Expert System which is developed in this research can assist user to find possible remedial actions in case that the groundwater was contaminated with toxic pollutants. Documentation including the degree of toxicity, the possibility of chemical reaction and concentration of pollutant can be supported also. Prolog, and artificial intelegence programming language, is used to implement the prototype expert system. This expert system can explicitly advise users about contaminants' toxicity, possiblity reaction with other chemicals and their concentrations.

• Journal of Urban Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.19-23
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• 2019

With the continuous progress of modern science and technology and the rapid development of economy, with the continuous development of society, the treatment of industrial and domestic sewage has become a hot concern. Toxic substances and non-degradable pollutants in wastewater also have a great impact on the environment. This paper mainly expounds the current environmental situation and the adsorption mechanism of activated carbon. And the application and development of activated carbon adsorption in wastewater.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.600-614
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• 2011

Classical methods which used for removal of heavy metals from contaminated water are adsorption, precipitation, coagulation, ion exchange resin, evaporation, and membrane processes. Microbial biosorption can be used for the removal of contaminated waters with pollutants such as heavy metals and dyes which are not easily biodegradable. Microbial biosorbents are inexpensive, eco friendly and more effective for the removal of toxic metals from aqueous solution. In this review, the bacterial and fungal abilities for heavy metals ions removal are emphasized. Environmental factors which affect biosorption process are also discussed. A detailed description for the most common isotherm and kinetic models are presented. This article reviews the achievements and the current status of bacterial and fungal biosorption technology for heavy metals removal and provides insights for further researches.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.121.1-121.1
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• 2003

Houttuynia cordata Thunb (HCT) is a herbal plant growing in China, Japan and Korea. According to the records of the Chinese medicine, this plant has been used as folk medicine for analgesics, beriberi, edema, hepatitis, icterus, etc. TCDD (2, 3, 7, 8 -tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin), one of the notorious toxic environmental pollutants, damages various organs including liver and is regarded as an endocrine disrupter. After 7 days from TCDD (1$\mu$g/kg) injection, HCT (200 mg/kg) was administered into rats intraperitoneally for 4 weeks. (omitted)

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.208.2-208.2
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• 2003

TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin), one of the notorious toxic environmental pollutants, damages various organs including liver and is regarded as an endocrine disrupter. To investigate the effects of Houttuynia cordata Thunb (HCT) on the biochemical parameters of function, liver and serum of TCDD-treated rats were used. After 7 days from TCDD (1 $\mu\textrm{g}$/kg) injection, HCT (200 mg/kg) was administered into rats intraperitoneally for 4 weeks. The lipidperoxide content was examined by measuring the level of total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, total lipid and triglyceride (TG) in serum, and malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver tissue of rats. (omitted)

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.1124-1129
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• 2008

Cokes wastewater is one of the most toxic industrial effluents since it contains high concentrations of pollutants, such as phenol, ammonia, thiocyanate and cyanides. Although biological pre-denitrification process has been used to treat this wastewater in Korea, unexpected failure in nitrogen removal occasionally occurs during summer season. In this study, therefore, we examined inhibitory effects of phenol, ammonia, thiocyanate, ferric cyanide and free cyanide on biological denitrification according to temperature variation ($20{\sim}38^{\circ}C$). Batch experiments showed that denitrification rate was faster in summer ($38^{\circ}C$) than other seasons, and removal rates of pollutants increased with increasing temperature. Phenol, ammonia, thiocyanate and ferric cyanide did not inhibit denitrification even at its high concentration (200 mg/L). However free cyanide above 0.5 mg/L seriously inhibited the bilolgical denitrification reaction. Inhibitory effect of these pollutants was reduced with increasing temperature.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.79-89
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• 2007

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the present status of several environmental problems caused by emerging toxic substances such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), and arsenic in various environmental media in Vietnam. Monitoring data reported during the 1990s demonstrated elevated contamination of DDTs in most of these compartments in Vietnam. Studies in frame of the Asia-Pacific Mussel Watch Program revealed that fish, mussels and resident birds from Vietnam contained higher concentrations of DDTs as compared to other countries in region, suggesting the role of Vietnamese environment as a significant emission source of DDT in the Southeast Asian region. The estimated dietary intakes of PCBs and DDTs for Vietnamese were relatively high among Asian developing countries, suggesting potential risk for humans posed by thesechemicals. Widespread contamination of some endocrine active compounds such as alkylphenols and phthalates was observed at various sites along the coasts of northern and middle Vietnam. The presence of significant source of bisphenol-A along Red River estuary was revealed with the concentrations comparable to those reported for developed nations. A case study on seasonal variation of alkylphenols and phthalates in surface water of river delta and estuary of north and middle Vietnam indicated the differences in distribution of these compounds between dry and rainy seasons. Higher concentrations of alkylphenols and phthalates were found in dry season in estuary; while the contrasting pattern was observed in the river delta, showing elevated residues in rainy season. This result suggests the different behavior of alkylphenols and phthalates in river delta and coastal environment. From ecotoxicological perspectives, concentrations of bis-phenol A and di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalates [DEHP] in surface water from some locations in Vietnam exceeded the guideline values for Ecotoxicological Effects and the Environmental Risk Limit, respectively, suggesting potential for toxic implications on aquatic wildlife. Widespread and elevated arsenic contamination was discovered inour recent surveys in groundwater in a large area of suburban areas of Hanoi city, the capital of Vietnam. The most recent investigation in 4 villages showed about more than 50 % of groundwater samples contained As concentrations exceeding 50 g/L (the WHO and Vietnamese standard). In particular, in Son Dong villages, 58 % of samples analyzed contained As concentrations higher than 200 g/L. Good correlations were found in As concentrations in water and hair and urine of peoples in corresponding families, suggesting the chronic exposure to As by people living in As-contaminated ground water areas. In Son Dong village, As levels in hair (mean: 1.7 mg/kg dry wt) and urine (g/g creatinine) exceeding the reference values recommended by WHO, suggesting potential for human risk posed by long term accumulation of As in human body. Future studies should be focused on the time trends of POPs and EDCs in biota in Vietnam in order to predict future trend of contamination and to reveal new clues for understanding possible toxic impacts on aquatic organisms. The issues of arsenic contamination in groundwater and their chronic toxic implications on human health should be systematically investigated in the future.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.191-199
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• 2010

Introduction of Technology-Based Effluent Limitations (TBELs) concepts into Korea requires extensive and through analyses on the expected pollutants reduction effects and the cost factor for the industry side. In addition, the TEBLs should be optimized for the regulatory environments of Korea and be applied in a progressive manner to minimize the undesirable effects. It is also necessary to assess the contribution of each industrial categories's to the pollution of natural water bodies to find the priority of TEBLs application. For these purposes, the pollution loads of various industrial categories were analyzed using risk assessment indicator based on Toxic Weighting Factors (TWFs). First, the TWFs were calculated for the pollutants regulated using the method adopted by USEPA. And the effluent characteristics of the eighty two categories of industry in Korea were investigated. Although the analytical data on the wastewater from different industrial categories are relatively limited, the results from two previous studies were used. The first study, conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Research in 2001~2004, investigated the wastewater characteristics from 255 industrial sources covering the major 20 industrial categories. The second study includes more recent analytical data for the wastewater from 500 industrial sources, covering all the 82 industrial categories. In the result of the pollution loads analyses, the category of 'Synthetic and Chemical manufacture' was found to show the highest raw pollution load. On the other hand the category of 'Ion & Steel manufacture' was found to show the highest effluent pollution loads, which can be considered as the real impacts on natural water streams. The top five categories occupied 62.2% of the total effluent pollution loads. Through the analyses, the relative importances of each industrial categories and the priorities of TEBL-based pollution reduction were determined.

• Proceedings of the Korean Environmental Health Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.319-322
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• 2005

Porous building materials are not only sources of indoor air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) but they are also strong sinks of these pollutants. Volatile organic compounds have been implicated in impaired spermatogenesis, increase in the incidence of malformed sperm and decrease in the percentage of moving sperm. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the direct effects of various volatile organic compounds (phenol, formaldehyde; HCHO, ethanol, toluene, styrene) on motility and survival rate of human sperm in vitro. Semen samples from 3 health subjects were prepared using swim-up method and 1-10mM volatile organic compounds were added to the test medium. HCHO and phenol produced significant decreases in the motility and survival rate with a different potency. The most potent inhibition of motility and survival rate was observed after exposure to HCHO. Less than 1mM HCHO significantly inhibited sperm motility. When ethanol is added directly to sperm, at concentrations equivalent to that in serum after heavy drinking, these damaging effects were lowest compared with other volatile organic compounds. Present study shows that each compound has differential toxic potency to human sperm and we need special caution for the use of HCHO and phenol.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.179-186
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• 2009

Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) is a bioaccumulative, persistent, and toxic pollutant. HCB is one of the 12 priority of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) intended for global action by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Governing Council. POPs are organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation through chemical, biological, and photolytic processes. Some of HCB is ubiquitous in air, water, soil, and biological matrices, as well as in major environmental compartments. HCB has effects on various organs such as thyroid, bone, skin, kidneys and blood cells and especially, revealed strong toxicity to liver. In this study, we identified genes related to hepatotoxiciy induced by HCB in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells using microarray and gene ontology (GO) analysis. Through microarray analysis, we identified 96 up- and 617 down-regulated genes changed by more than 1.5-fold by HCB. And after GO analysis, we determined several key pathways which known as related to hepatotoxicity such as metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, complement and coagulation cascades, and tight junction. Thus, our present study suggests that genes expressed by HCB may provide a clue for hepatotoxic mechanism of HCB and gene expression profiling by toxicogenomic analysis also affords promising opportunities to reveal potential new mechanistic markers of toxicity.