Tae-Wan Jeon

Emission of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in use of electric/electronic equipment and recycling of e-waste in Korea.

The emission rates of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) from electric/electronic products during their use and disposal were estimated. E-wastes, including televisions and refrigerators, gathered at recycling centers were also analyzed to estimate their emissions. The average concentrations of PBDEs in TV rear covers produced before and after the year 2000 were 145,027 mg/kg and 14,049 mg/kg, respectively. The PBDEs concentration in TV front covers was lower than the concentration in TV rear covers. The concentration in the components of the refrigerator samples ranged from ND to 445 mg/kg. We estimated the atmospheric emissions of PBDEs based on the concentrations. The annual emissions from TV rear covers produced before 2000 were calculated to be approximately 162.1 kg and after 2000, the annual emissions were 18.7 kg. Refrigerators showed the lowest annual emissions of PBDEs (0.7 kg). The atmospheric concentrations were also measured to calculate emissions generated during the recycling process. The highest concentration was 16.86 ng/m(3) emitted from the TV sets during the dismantling process. The concentrations of PBDEs generated in the plastic processing field ranged from 2.05 to 5.43 ng/m(3) depending on the products, and ambient air in open-air yards showed concentrations in the range of 0.32 to 5.55 ng/m(3). Emission factors for the recycling process were calculated using the observed concentrations. The estimated emissions according to the emission factors ranged from 0.3×10(-1) to 90.3 kg/year for open-air yards and from 0.1×10(-1) to 292.7 kg/year for the dismantling and crushing processes of TV set, depending on the production year.

Hazardous waste characterization among various thermal processes in South Korea: a comparative analysis.

Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea (South Korea) is in progress of converting its current hazardous waste classification system to harmonize it with the international standard and to set-up the regulatory standards for toxic substances present in the hazardous waste. In the present work, the concentrations along with the trend of 13 heavy metals, F(-), CN(-) and 19 PAH present in the hazardous waste generated among various thermal processes (11 processes) in South Korea were analyzed along with their leaching characteristics. In all thermal processes, the median concentrations of Cu (3.58-209,000 mg/kg), Ni (BDL-1560 mg/kg), Pb (7.22-5132.25mg/kg) and Zn (83.02-31419 mg/kg) were comparatively higher than the other heavy metals. Iron & Steel thermal process showed the highest median value of the heavy metals Cd (14.76 mg/kg), Cr (166.15 mg/kg) and Hg (2.38 mg/kg). Low molecular weight PAH (BDL-37.59 mg/kg) was predominant in sludge & filter cake samples present in most of the thermal processes. Comparatively flue gas dust present in most of the thermal processing units resulted in the higher leaching of the heavy metals.

Estimation on the application of Reference Materials for PCBs Proficiency Testing from the transformer oil

This study was carried out to produce Reference Materials (RMs) for Proficiency Testing (PT) of PCBs in waste analytical laboratories. Two RMs were prepared from used transformer oil samples and PCB free transformer oil by spiking PCBs standard solutions. The spiked PCB RMs were homogenized by mixing and settling up to 90 days. Homogenized concentration of PCBs with Arochlor 1254 (6 ppm), 1254:1260 (1:1) (5 ppm) were observed in 60 days stationary phase but Arochlor 1260 (3.5 mg/L) were observed in 90 days stationary phase. One-way ANOVA test were carried out and showed that the RMs were suitably homogenized, which can be used for proficiency testing. The Relative Standard Deviations (RSDs) of analytical results were 3.51~5.01% for the PCBs RMs in 10 replicates. The expanded uncertainty of PCBs analytical procedure were 0.26~0.49.

Total content characteristics of inorganic and organic substances from wastes from thermal processes

In this study, heavy metals, PCDD/PCDFs, PAHs in wastes generated from thermal processes were analyzed. Waste from lead thermal metalurgy (EWC 10 04) inorganic metal substances in the regulation were detected in the highest concentrations of Pb. EWC 10 04 seems to be a result of the dust. Waste from zinc thermal metalurgy (EWC 10 05) inorganic metal substances in the regulation were detected in high concentration of Zn. EWC 10 05 seems to be a result of the dust. Waste from copper thermal metalurgy (EWC 10 06) Cu in the 651,77 mg/kg to 651 times higher than regulation standard appeared in the copper thermal metallurgy process seems to be a result of dust. The concentrations of PCDD/PCDFs ranged from 0.0005~11.748 ng-TEQ/ g in dust, 0.0027 ng-TEQ/g in fly ash. PCDD/PCDFs content was not detected in excessive value in regulation

Characteristics of hazardous oil & liquid fuel waste discharged from various industries

Abstract: This study was performed to investigate the contents characteristics of hazardous oil wastes and wastesof liquid fuels from different industrial process. In order to establish a hazardous waste list, samples of variousindustrial discharge have been analyzed for 16 non-regulated inorganic hazardous substances (i.e., Cu, Pb, Cd,CN, Hg, As, T-Cr, Cr 6+ , Sb, Ni, F, V, Ba, Zn, Be, Se). In more detail, hazardous waste samples includingwaste hydraulic oils, waste engine, gear and lubricating oils, waste insulating and heat transmission oils, bilgeoils, oil/water separator contents processing were collected from 37 workplaces and analyzed. We observedthat the most of the inorganic substances exceeded the proposed criteria in many samples. Especially theconcentration of Sb in heat transmission oil, bilge oil and gear & lubricating oils were ranged from 6 to 419mg/kg whereas the proposed criteria is 50 mg/kg. The assessment result of hazardous waste in Korea accordingto the EWC showed that the out of 24 processes, 16 belongs to absolute entry and 8 belongs to mirror entry.In conclusion, we expect the outcome of this study to align the classification system of hazardous wastemanagement in South Korea with international legislations, and consequently contribute to reduce environmentalpollution as well as health risks by toxic wastes.요약: 국내 유해폐기물의 적정 관리를 위해 폐유 및 액상연료 공정에서 발생한 폐기물 중 규제 무기물질류의 배출특성을 조사하였다. 사업장은 올바로시스템에 등록된 폐기물 배출업체를 대상으로, 유럽폐기물 분류체계(EWC, European Waste Catalogue)의 폐유 및 액상연료 공정(EWC 13)과 유사한 폐기물 발생업체를 선정하였다. 조사대상 사업장 37 개 업체를 현지 방문하여 원료, 생산제품, 생산 공정, 폐기물의 종류 및 배출과정을 조사하고 생산 공정에서 배출되는 51 개의 폐기물을 채취하여 무기물질류 16 항목(Cd, Pb, Cu, Hg, As, CN, Cr, Cr

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Industrial Organic Sludge from Wastewater Treatment Facilities in Korea

This study presents the concentrations of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) listed as priority pollutants by United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), in 98 sludges from 54 industrial wastewater treatment facilities of South Korea. The mean concentrations of Σ16PAHs were ranged from 32.5 μg/kg-dw to 1189.3 μg/kg-dw by industries, and the highest content was found in the petrochemical industry, followed by chemical, clothing manufacturing and dying, pulp and papermaking, secondary wastewater treatment, and food/beverage producing industries. Comparisons to the EU and Danish standards of Σ16PAHs in sewage sludge for land application showed only two samples (one from petrochemical, and the other from chemical industry) exceeded the limits. ANOVA test with PAH concentrations as variables revealed no statistically significant influences by industrial types and sampling time (i.e., seasonal variations). Pearson correlations between individual PAHs showed strong relationships (r>0.7) among 4-ring PAHs. Concentrations of acenaphthylene, anthracene, fluoranthene, benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(f)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, benzo(a)pyrene presented strong correlations to Σ16PAHs. Principal component analysis discriminated entire samples into three groups by two principal components (PC1 and PC2) with 70% of data variations, in which industrial types were not of importance, but a dominance of certain PAHs. Samples in group-I, which is high PC1 and low PC2, were characterized by a dominance of 2-ring PAHs, and in group-II, PC1 and PC2 showed a linear relation, was dominant 4-ring PAHs. Group-III with low PC1 and high PC2 includes 17 samples showing a noticeably high contribution of 3-ring PAHs to Σ16PAHs. This study provides concentrations of PAHs in industrial sludges collected from a wide variety of sources (six industrial types) and two seasons of sampling events, and the comparison of Σ16PAHs with other studies are also discussed.