Recently, the advancement of information and communication technology(ICT) is expanding the connectivity through Internet of Things(IoT), and the media of connection is also expanding from wire/cable transmission to broadband wireless communication, which has significantly improved mobility. This hyperconnectivity has become a key element of the fourth industrial revolution, whereas the supervisory control network of purification plants in korea is operated as a communication network separated from the outside, thereby lagging in terms of connectivity. This is considered the best way to ensure security, and thus there is hardly any consideration of establishing alternatives to operate an efficient and stable communication network. Moreover, security for management of a commercialized communication network and network management solution may be accompanied by immense costs, making it more difficult to make new attempts. Therefore, to improve the conditions for the current supervisory control network of purification plants, this study developed a industrial security L2 switch that supports modbus TCP(Transmission Control Protocol) communication and encryption function of the transmission section. As a result, the communication security performance improved significantly, and the cost for implementing the network management system using Historical Trend and information of HMI(Human Machine Interface) could be reduced by approximately KRW 200 million. The results of this study may be applied to systems for gas, electricity and social safety nets that are infrastructure communication networks that are similar to purification plants.

This study aims to evaluate the concentration of biomarkers for heavy metals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for the residents living in the Gwangyang industrial complex to compare with residents in the residential area as a control. A total of 810 healthy adults participated in this study, and their urinary and blood samples were analyzed for metals, including As, Pb, Cd, or Hg, and VOC compounds. All study participants also completed questionnaire surveys to collect more detailed information on personal lifestyles, dietary and drinking habits, residential housings types, and their health conditions. The geometric means of urinary levels of Cd were 1.06 g/g creatinine for those living in the vicinity of Gwangyang industrial complex and 1.41 g/g creatinine for those in residential areas (p<0.05). Furthermore, urinary mean levels of Hg were 1.39 μg/g creatinine in the industrial area and 1.23 μg/g creatinine in the control area, respectively. The concentrations of individual VOCs in blood were significantly different between the two population groups. Therefore, urinary levels of Cd and Hg were significantly higher in the local residents compared to the Gwangyang industrial areas. A further study is needed to identify adverse health effects due to environmental exposures to heavy metals, VOCs, and other pollutants in the Gwangyang industrial complex areas in the future.

Heavy metals in stream water and sediments around industrial complex were studied in order to assess the contamination and to identify the potential source of metals. High variability has been observed for both dissolved and particulate phases in stream water with coefficient of variation (CV) ranging from 1.3 to 2.8. The highest metal concentrations in both phases were observed in Gunja for Ni and Cu, in Jungwang for Zn and Pb and in Shiheung for Cd, respectively. These results indicate that the different metal sources could be existing. The concentrations of the heavy metals in sediments decreased in the order of Cu>Zn>Pb>Cr>Ni>As>Cd>Hg, with mean of 2,549, 1,742, 808, 539, 163, 17.1, 5.8, 0.07 mg kg-1, respectively. Mean of metal concentrations (except for As) in sediments showed the highest values at Shiheung stream comparing with other streams. In sediments, the percent exceedance of class II grade that metal may potentially harmful impact on benthic organism for Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb was about 57%, 62%, 84%, 60%, 68%, 81% for all stream sediments, respectively. Sediments were classified as heavily to extremely polluted for Cu and Cd, heavily polluted for Zn and Pb, based on the calculation of Igeo value. About 59% and 35% of sediments were in the categories of “poor” and “very poor” pollution status for heavy metals. Given the high metal concentrations, industrial wastes and effluents, having high concentrations of most metals originated from the manufacture and use of metal products in this region, might be discharged into the stream through sewer outlet. The streams receive significant amounts of industrial waste from the industrial facilities which is characterized by light industrial complexes of approximately 17,000 facilities. Thus, the transport of metal loads through streams is an important pathway for metal pollution in Shihwa Lake.

Over a million tons of spent mushroom substrate (SMS) are generated as by-products of mushroom cultivation every year in Korea. Disposal of SMS by mushroom farmers is difficult, therefore, recycling solutions that do not harm the environment are necessary. SMS consists of mushroom mycelia and residues of fruiting bodies, containing a variety of bioactive substances, such as extracellular enzymes, antimicrobial compounds, and secondary metabolites. This paper reviews utility of SMS for bioremediation, controlling plant disease, and production of lignocellulytic enzymes, organic fertilizer, and animal feed.