171 results match your criteria: "Korea Environment Institute[Affiliation]"

Spatial associations of daily PM concentration with cardiovascular and pulmonary morbidity in Korea.

Chemosphere

November 2024

Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea; Environmental Health Center, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address:

Air pollution, particularly fine particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM), contributes to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases and poses significant public health risks worldwide. This study evaluated the short-term effects of PM on hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, with additional analyses to identify vulnerable populations based on regional characteristics.

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The increasing frequency and intensity of heat waves due to climate change and urbanization have caused serious public health problems, especially in urban areas in which the heat effects are amplified by dense infrastructure and limited green space. This study examined the impact of heatwaves on vulnerable populations in Korean cities, focusing on how age, income, and disability are associated with higher health risks. In our study, we analyzed healthcare big data from 2010 to 2022 for seven major Korean cities.

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Objectives: The global prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in adolescents has increased. In addition to childhood obesity, environmental risk factors, such as heavy metals that are known to be involved in hepatotoxicity, play role in NAFLD occurrence. However, their association with NAFLD remains unclear.

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Parents adjust their foraging effort according to the chick and their own body condition and dual foraging strategy is one of the foraging tactics parents replenish their own reserves while feeding their chicks. During the post-breeding season, seabirds disperse to recover their own body condition and prepare for the next breeding season. Recently, we discovered Black-tailed gulls (Larus crassirostris) breeding around the Korean Peninsula occasionally foraging long trips during the late fledging, however, our understanding of the behavioral patterns of Black-tailed gulls during the late fledging and post-breeding, as well as its inter-colonial differences, remains considerably limited.

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Elucidating Uncertainty in Heat Vulnerability Mapping: Perspectives on Impact Variables and Modeling Approaches.

Int J Environ Res Public Health

June 2024

Research Center for Atmospheric Environment, Global Campus, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Yongin-si 17035, Republic of Korea.

Heat vulnerability maps are vital for identifying at-risk areas and guiding interventions, yet their relationship with health outcomes is underexplored. This study investigates the uncertainty in heat vulnerability maps generated using health outcomes and various statistical models. We constructed vulnerability maps for 167 municipalities in Korea, focusing on the mild and severe health impacts of heat waves on morbidity and mortality.

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This study developed innovative predictive models of groundwater pollution using in situ electrical conductivity (EC) and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) measurements at livestock carcass burial sites. Combined electrode analysis (EC and ORP) and machine learning techniques efficiently and accurately distinguished between leachate and background groundwater. Two models-empirical and theoretical-were constructed based on a supervised classification framework.

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This study introduces a novel groundwater pollution index (GPI) formulated through compositional data analysis (CoDa) and robust principal component analysis (RPCA) to enhance groundwater quality assessment. Using groundwater quality monitoring data from sites impacted by the 2010-2011 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in South Korea, CoDa uncovers critical hydrochemical differences between leachate-influenced and background groundwater. The GPI was developed by selecting key subcompositional parts (NH-N, Cl, and NO-N) using RPCA, performing the isometric log-ratio (ILR) transformation, and normalizing the results to environmental standards, thereby providing a more precise and accurate assessment of pollution.

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The biogeographical range shift of insect pests is primarily governed by temperature. However, the range shift of seasonal long-distance migratory insects may be very different from that of sedentary insects. Nilaparvata lugens (BPH), a serious rice pest, can only overwinter in tropical-to-subtropical regions, and some populations migrate seasonally to temperate zones with the aid of low-level jet stream air currents.

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Objectives: Excess mortality associated with long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has been documented. However, research on the disease burden following short-term exposure is scarce.

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The chemical reactivity, contribution of emission sources, and risk assessment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere of the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA) were analyzed. Datasets collected from 6 photochemical assessment monitoring stations (PAMS) of SMA from 2018 to 2021 were used. Alkenes and aromatics contributed significantly to ozone formation relative to the emission concentrations, and aromatics accounted for most of the secondary organic aerosols (SOA) formation in the SMA.

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Methane is a significant greenhouse gas (GHG), and it is imperative to understand its spatiotemporal distribution and primary sources in areas with higher methane concentrations, as such insights are essential for informing effective mitigation policies. In this study, we employed TROPOMI satellite retrievals to analyze the spatiotemporal patterns of methane distributions and identify major emission sources in South Korea over the period from August 2018 to July 2019. Additionally, we examined the spatial correlations between satellite methane retrievals and emission sources to characterize regions with higher methane levels on an annual basis.

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Development of a greenhouse gas - air pollution interactions and synergies model for Korea (GAINS-Korea).

Sci Rep

February 2024

Department of Convergence of Climate and Environmental Studies, Sookmyung Women's University, 100 Cheongpa-ro 47-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, 04310, Korea.

This study aimed to create Greenhouse Gas - Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS)-Korea, an integrated model for evaluating climate and air quality policies in Korea, modeled after the international GAINS model. GAINS-Korea incorporates specific Korean data and enhances granularity for enabling local government-level analysis. The model includes source-receptor matrices used to simulate pollutant dispersion in Korea, generated through CAMx air quality modeling.

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In this study, GPS trackers were attached to black-tailed gulls () breeding on five islands in Republic of Korea during April and May 2021, and their flight frequency, behavioral range, and flight altitude were compared during and after the breeding season. During the breeding season, the flight frequency was lowest on Dongman Island (28.7%), where mudflats were distributed nearby, and the range of activity was narrow.

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Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) is a valuable model in evolutionary toxicology to study how the interactions between genetic and environmental factors serve the adaptive ability of organisms to resist chemical pollution. Killifish populations inhabiting environmental toxicant-contaminated New Bedford Harbor (NBH) show phenotypes tolerant to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and differences at the transcriptional and genomic levels. However, limited research has explored epigenetic alterations and metabolic effects in NBH killifish.

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This study aims to evaluate the ecosystem services of Upo wetland, one of the best-known Ramsar sites in Korea, reflecting the characteristics of the ecological assets and local knowledges in the area. Application of spatial text-mining begins with collecting local perceptions and knowledge of residents on the 17 ecological assets of Upo site and surrounding area. Our results identified five important ecosystem services: flood control during heavy rainfall, water purification by aquatic plants, cultural and natural heritages, agricultural products and water provision for crop cultivation.

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Pollution by chemicals and waste impacts human and ecosystem health on regional, national, and global scales, resulting, together with climate change and biodiversity loss, in a triple planetary crisis. Consequently, in 2022, countries agreed to establish an intergovernmental science-policy panel (SPP) on chemicals, waste, and pollution prevention, complementary to the existing intergovernmental science-policy bodies on climate change and biodiversity. To ensure the SPP's success, it is imperative to protect it from conflicts of interest (COI).

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The number of non-accidental deaths and heat-related illnesses due to the co-occurrence of heatwaves and COVID-19 has been identified to estimate compound health impacts between two risks. We have analyzed data from historical years (2013-2019) to calculate the baseline values of the number of non-accidental deaths and heat-related illness patients from May to September using a quasi-Poisson generalized linear model and compared them to data from 2020 in Korea. We also assessed the relative risk and absolute cumulative number of non-accidental deaths and heat-related illnesses in the summer of 2020 in Seoul, Daegu, and Gyeongnam region of Korea.

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Many food contact materials (FCMs) and reusable plastics in the food industry contain poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of synthetic pollutants that are known to be potentially harmful for wildlife, humans, and the environment. PFAS may migrate from FCMs to food consumed by humans. As a replacement for plastics, often paper and other plant-based materials are used in commercial settings.

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Diverse values of nature for sustainability.

Nature

August 2023

Laboratorio Ecología Humana, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Altos de Pipe, Venezuela.

Twenty-five years since foundational publications on valuing ecosystem services for human well-being, addressing the global biodiversity crisis still implies confronting barriers to incorporating nature's diverse values into decision-making. These barriers include powerful interests supported by current norms and legal rules such as property rights, which determine whose values and which values of nature are acted on. A better understanding of how and why nature is (under)valued is more urgent than ever.

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Indicators to monitor the status of the tree of life.

Conserv Biol

December 2023

IUCN SSC Phylogenetic Diversity Task Force, London, UK.

Following the failure to fully achieve any of the 20 Aichi biodiversity targets, the future of biodiversity rests in the balance. The Convention on Biological Diversity's Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) presents the opportunity to preserve nature's contributions to people (NCPs) for current and future generations by conserving biodiversity and averting extinctions. There is a need to safeguard the tree of life-the unique and shared evolutionary history of life on Earth-to maintain the benefits it bestows into the future.

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Background: Evidence on whether long-term exposure to air pollution increases the mortality risk in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is limited.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the associations of long-term exposure to particulate matter with diameter <10 µm (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO) with overall and disease-specific mortality in COPD patients.

Design: We conducted a nationwide retrospective cohort study of 121,423 adults ⩾40 years diagnosed with COPD during 1 January to 31 December 2009.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), commonly found in disinfectants, have seen increased use during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to heightened human exposure and possible health risks like asthma and hypersensitivity.
  • - A study analyzed 46 indoor dust samples from Belgium using advanced mass spectrometry to identify and quantify QACs, finding 21 targeted QACs with high detection rates, especially one significant compound with a concentration of 24.90 µg/g.
  • - The research calls for more investigation into QAC exposure in Europe due to the high occurrence and variety of compounds found, along with the establishment of collision cross-section values (CCS) for better characterization of QACs.
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Material flow analysis-based assessment of polypropylene-fiber-containing microplastics released from disposable masks: Characterizing distribution in the environmental media.

Sci Total Environ

September 2023

Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Seoul, 163 Seoulsirip-daero, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02504, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:

With the upsurge in the use of disposable masks during the coronavirus disease pandemic, improper disposal of discarded masks and their negative impact on the environment have emerged as major issues. Improperly disposed of masks release various pollutants, particularly microplastic (MP) fibers, which can harm both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems by interfering with the nutrient cycling, plant growth, and the health and reproductive success of organisms. This study assesses the environmental distribution of polypropylene (PP)-containing MPs, generated from disposable masks, using material flow analysis (MFA).

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The evaluation of leachate leakage at livestock mortality burial sites is challenging, particularly when groundwater is previously contaminated by agro-livestock farming. Supervised machine learning was applied to discriminate the impacts of carcass leachate from pervasive groundwater contamination in the following order: data labeling, feature selection, synthetic data generation, and classification. Physicochemical data of 359 water samples were collected from burial pits (LC), monitoring wells near pits (MW), pre-existing shallow household wells (HW), and background wells with pervasive contamination (BG).

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