Health risk assessment of uranium intake from private residential drinking groundwater facilities based on geological characteristics across the Republic of Korea.

Groundwater contributes to an average of 8 % of the total water source capacity in the Republic of Korea. Hence, private residential households in rural areas in Korea are still using groundwater for drinking without any regular water quality inspection. This can increase the risk of exposure to natural radionuclides like uranium through drinking groundwater.

Prediction of groundwater quality index to assess suitability for drinking purpose using averaged neural network and geospatial analysis.

Groundwater quality management is pivotal for ensuring public health and ecological resilience. However, the conventional water quality indices often face challenges related to parameter selection, geographic coverage, and scalability. The integration of machine learning and spatial analysis represents a promising methodological shift, allowing for high accuracy and adaptive management strategies.

Characterization of seasonal behaviors of naturally occurring radioactive materials in a groundwater borehole using an in situ monitoring system.

Understanding the temporal behaviors of naturally occurring radioactive materials is important for safeguarding groundwater as a secure water resource for drinking, agriculture, and industry usage. This study reports the vertical profiles of U concentration and Rn activity and the management of in situ monitoring systems during intensive field sampling of a national groundwater-monitoring borehole for seven years (2015-2021). The aim was to capture the seasonal characteristics of the U concentrations and Rn activity.

Uranium Concentrations in Private Wells of Potable Groundwater, Korea.

Uranium (U) is one of the typical naturally occurring radioactive elements enriched in groundwater through geological mechanisms, thereby bringing about adverse effects on human health. For this reason, some countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) regulate U with drinking water standards and monitor its status in groundwater. In Korea, there have been continuous investigations to monitor and manage U in groundwater, but they have targeted only public groundwater wells.

Characterizing land use effect on shallow groundwater contamination by using self-organizing map and buffer zone.

Nitrate-nitrogen (NO-N) contamination in groundwater is a major problem of drinking and domestic waters in rural areas. This study revealed the influence of land use type on shallow alluvial groundwaters in a typical rural area in South Korea by applying a self-organizing map (SOM), principal component analysis (PCA), and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The uncertainty of spatial information on land use was improved by using a buffer zone of the average influence radius of 32.

Contribution of nitrate-nitrogen concentration in groundwater to stream water in an agricultural head watershed.

This study characterized nitrate-nitrogen (NO-N) concentrations in groundwater and stream water in an agricultural head watershed in South Korea and identified the pollution load of NO-N as a result of the groundwater entering streams using field surveys, analyses of chemical constituents, and numerical modeling. The mean NO-N concentration in groundwater was 7.373 mg/L, which is approximately 1.

Radon concentrations in the community groundwater system of South Korea.

Groundwater samples were collected from 3818 wells used for the community groundwater system (CGS) in the remote rural areas of South Korea and analyzed to determine radon concentrations. Radon concentrations varied with rock type, ranging from 0.1 to 2393.

Occurrence and distribution of pharmaceutical and personal care products, artificial sweeteners, and pesticides in groundwater from an agricultural area in Korea.

This study investigated the occurrence and distribution of 33 pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), five artificial sweeteners (ASs), and six pesticides in groundwater in rural agricultural and rural non-agricultural area in South Korea. A total of 31 target compounds (15 antibiotics, four anthelmintics, seven other PPCPs, four ASs, and one pesticide) were detected in agricultural groundwater at concentrations from not detected (ND) to 49.3 ng/L for PPCPs, ND to 1340 ng/L for ASs, and ND to 116 ng/L for pesticides.

The Application of REDOR NMR to Understand the Conformation of Epothilone B.

The structural information of small therapeutic compounds complexed in biological matrices is important for drug developments. However, structural studies on ligands bound to such a large and dynamic system as microtubules are still challenging. This article reports an application of the solid-state NMR technique to investigating the bioactive conformation of epothilone B, a microtubule stabilizing agent, whose analog ixabepilone was approved by the U.

Natural radon reduction rate of the community groundwater system in South Korea.

Tank waters from 13 Community Groundwater Systems (CGS) showed average radon reduction rate of 26.5% (varying from -17.9% to 63.

Synthesis and characterizations of MnO2/multi-wall carbon nanotubes nanocomposites for lithium-air battery.

In this work, rechargeable lithium-air battery using MnO2/MWNTs nanocomposites as a catalyst was studied. MnO2/MWNTs nanocomposites were synthesized by a hydrothermal method, and their physical and chemical properties were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to examine crystallinity and morphology was investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).