Jung-Ho Kang

Korea Polar Research Institute | KOPRI

The potential ice core proxies of variability in oceanic and atmospheric conditions over the Ross Sea were evaluated. This study examined sea salt sodium (ss–Na⁺) and biogenic sulfur (methanesulfonate, MS–) records, covering 23 years between 1990 and 2012, from two firn cores drilled on the Styx Glacier plateau (SGP), northern Victoria Land, East A...

We present boreal forest fire proxies in a northwest Greenland snowpit spanning a period of six years, from spring 2003 to summer 2009. Levoglucosan (C6H10O5) is a specific organic molecular marker of biomass burning caused by boreal forest fires. In this study, levoglucosan was determined via liquid chromatography/negative ion electrospray ionizat...

The occurrence and bioaccumulation of new and legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), and Dechlorane Plus (DPs) and their related compounds (Dechloranes) in an ecosystem on King George Island, Antarctica are...

This study presents ultraclean procedures used in the challenging task of determining trace elements at or below the pg/g concentration level encountered in Greenland snow and ice. In order to validate these ultraclean procedures, recent snowfall and Holocene ice from northwest Greenland were analyzed for Cd, U, and Zn concentrations. The total pro...

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been banned or voluntarily withdrawn from commerce worldwide. Declining level of PBDEs in humans has been reported elsewhere, but not in Korea yet. In this study, seven individual PBDE congeners (BDE‐28, BDE‐47, BDE‐99, BDE‐100, BDE‐153, BDE‐154 and BDE‐183) were monitored in the 103 human serum samples c...

The Northern Hemisphere experienced dramatic changes during the last glacial, featuring vast ice sheets and abrupt climate events, while high northern latitudes during the last interglacial (Eemian) were warmer than today. Here we use high-resolution aerosol records from the Greenland NEEM ice core to reconstruct the environmental alterations in ae...

The Northern Hemisphere experienced dramatic changes during the last glacial, featuring vast ice sheets and abrupt climate events, while high northern latitudes during the last interglacial (Eemian) were warmer than today. Here we use high-resolution aerosol records from the Greenland NEEM ice core to reconstruct the environmental alterations in ae...

The serum levels of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were measured in a middle-aged Korean population and investigated associations with age, gender, body mass index (BMI), metabolic syndrome (MS), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and dietary habits. The median concentrations of 22 OCPs and 34 PCBs in the serum...

The connection between marine biogenic dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and the formation of aerosol particles in the Arctic atmosphere was evaluated by analyzing atmospheric DMS mixing ratio, aerosol particle size distribution and aerosol chemical composition data that were concurrently collected at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (78.5° N, 11.8° E), during April and...

We present high-resolution lead (Pb) concentrations and isotopic ratios from a northwest Greenland snow pit covering a six-year period between 2003 and 2009. Pb concentrations ranged widely from 2.7 pg g(-1) to 97.3 pg g(-1), with a mean concentration of 21.6 pg g(-1). These values are higher than those recorded for the pre-industrial period. Pb co...

In this work we present the isotopic, chemical and dust stratigraphies of two snow pits sampled in 2013/14 at GV7 (coastal East Antarctica: 70°41' S - 158°51' E, 1950 m a.s.l.). A large number of chemical species are measured aiming to study their potentiality as environmental changes markers. Seasonal cluster backward trajectories analysis was per...

The connection between marine biogenic dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and the formation of aerosol particles in the Arctic atmosphere was evaluated by analyzing atmospheric DMS mixing ratios, aerosol particle size distributions and aerosol chemical composition data that were concurrently collected at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (78.5° N, 11.8° E) during April and...

Legacy and new persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), Dechlorane Plus (DPs) and related compounds (Dechloranes), hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), were analyzed in avian tissue samples from King George Island, Antarctica. The avian sp...

An improved decontamination method and ultraclean analytical procedures have been developed to minimize Pb contamination of processed glacial ice cores and to achieve reliable determination of Pb isotopes in North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) deep ice core sections with concentrations at the sub-picogram per gram level. A PL-7 (Fuso Chemica...

Climate model results suggest that future climate change in Antarctica will be accompanied by continued strengthening and poleward contraction of the Southern Ocean westerly wind belt. Paleoclimate records suggest past changes in the westerly winds can be abrupt and that healing of the Antarctic ozone hole could lead to poleward contraction of the...

A continuous series of 60 snow samples was collected at a 2.5-cm interval from a 1.5-m snow pit at a site on the Styx Glacier Plateau in Victoria Land, Antarctica, during the 2011/2012 austral summer season. Various chemical components (δD, δ18O, Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl−, SO42−, NO3−, F−, CH3SO3−, CH3CO2− and HCO2−) were determined to understand th...

Mineral dust in the polar snow plays an important role both in the climate system of the Earth and in global biogeochemical cycles. Analysis of the concentration and the particle size distribution of mineral dust have been carried out in the snow from the Antarctic surface snow and the Greenland snow pit. Among the various particle size determinati...

We established the first complete ice core processing method and analytical procedures for fundamental proxies, using a 40.2 m long ice core drilled on the Mt. Tsambagarav glacier in the Mongolian Altai mountains in July 2008. The whole core was first divided into two sub ice core sections and the measurements of the visual stratigraphy and electri...

Trace elements (V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Mo, Cd, Sb, Ba, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th and U) and Pb isotopic compositions from the EPICA (European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica) Dome C ice core have been determined using inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS) and thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), cove...

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were measured in surface snow collected on a ~1400-km inland traverse beginning from the coastal regions of East Antarctica during the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE) of 2007/2008. Of the 22 OCPs, α-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), γ-HCH, and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) were frequently detected in the snow wit...

Batch adsorption experiments were carried out for the sorption of alpha and beta endosulfan onto bentonite clay. The effect of various experimental parameters such as contact time, adsorbent dosage, initial endosulfan concentration, pH and temperature was investigated. The equilibrium endosulfan concentrations were measured with GC/ECD. The equilib...

In 2009 and 2010, 720 serum samples were collected from non-occupationally exposed study participants at four Korean locations and monitored for the presence of 27 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners. The median concentrations of Σ(27)PBDEs (the sum of 27 congeners) and Σ(3-7)PBDEs (the sum of tri- to hepta-BDE congeners) were 6.04 and 4...

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contents were analyzed in samples collected from facilities related to PCB-containing products or wastes in South Korea. Average concentrations of the atmospheric Σ(209) PCBs were 7420 (37.0-104,048)pgm(-3) and 16.8 (ND-34.2 )fg WHO-TEQ m(-3) in indoor air samples; and 1670 (106-13,382)pgm(-3) and 5.64 (ND-36.0) fg WH...

Although shortened telomeres have been found in many cancers, elongated telomere length has been observed as an early response after low-dose treatment with various chemical carcinogens in vitro and animal experiments, suggesting low-dose exposure to carcinogenic chemicals may function as a tumour promoter at the very early stage of carcinogenesis...

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in human have been studied extensively; however, polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) have been studied less widely. The mean concentrations of PCNs, PCDDs, PCDFs, and PCBs in 61 healthy human volunteers were 2170 pg/g lipid, 452 pg...

Low-dose organochlorine (OC) pesticides have recently been associated with type 2 diabetes in several non-Asian general populations. As there is currently epidemic type 2 diabetes in Asia, we investigated the associations between OC pesticides and type 2 diabetes in Koreans. Among subjects who participated in a community-based health survey, we ran...

Global DNA methylation levels have been reported to be inversely associated with blood levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), xenobiotics that accumulate in adipose tissue. Whether these associations extend to a population with much lower concentrations of POPs is not known. This study was performed to examine whether low-dose exposure to...

Four consecutive passive air samplings (September 2006-July 2007) were conducted at 15 sites around an iron and steel making plant in Pohang, Korea to investigate the spatial and seasonal distributions of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and ultimately the source-receptor relationships. Annual mean values of Sigma(8)PCBs (IUPAC number 8, 28, 52, 10...

A highly chlorinated flame retardant, Dechlorane Plus (DP), was measured in five fish species collected in 2008 from 22 river sites across South Korea. The sites consisted of 15 urban-industrial areas, three rural-industrial areas, and four rural rivers. Both syn- and anti-DP isomer were consistently detected in all fish samples regardless of sampl...

To assess levels and seasonal trends of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in a high-altitude mountain region, a 2.1m snowpack sample was collected from the East Rongbuk Glacier at 6572 ma.s.l. on Mt. Everest in September 2005. This snowpack covered a full year period from the fall of 2004 to the summer of 2005 an...

Concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were determined in serum samples from residents of a Korean urban area (Seoul). This study was performed on 40 Koreans in the general population, aged 27-58, who had resided in urban areas for more than 10 years without occupational exposure to organochlorine po...

Polyethylene (PE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are the leading plastics in total production in the world. The incineration of plastic-based materials forms many chlorinated compounds, such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). In this study the addition of goethite (alpha-FeOOH) was investigated to determ...

The objective of this study was to evaluate all congeners of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in human serum samples. Concentrations of all PCB congeners in the serum of 87 volunteers were determined by high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS). The participants consisted of 47 males and 40 females, including...