• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.445-455
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• 2009

Microbiological sulfate reduction is the transformation of sulfate to sulfide catalyzed by the activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria using sulfate as an electron acceptor. Low solubility of metal sulfides leads to precipitation of the sulfides in solution. The effects of microbiological sulfate reduction on in-situ precipitation of arsenic and copper were investigated for the heavy metal-contaminated soil around the Songcheon Au-Ag mine site. Total concentrations of As, Cu, and Pb were 1,311 mg/kg, 146 mg/kg, and 294 mg/kg, respectively, after aqua regia digestion. In batch-type experiments, indigenous sulfate-reducing bacteria rapidly decreased sulfate concentration and redox potential and led to substantial removal of dissolved As and Cu from solution. Optimal concentrations of carbon source and sulfate for effective microbial sulfate reduction were 0.2~0.5% (w/v) and 100~200 mg/L, respectively. More than 98% of injected As and Cu were removed in the effluents from both microbial and chemical columns designed for metal sulfides to be precipitated. However, after the injection of oxygen-rich solution, the microbial column showed the enhanced long-term stability of in-situ precipitated metals when compared with the chemical column which showed immediate increase in dissolved As and Cu due to oxidative dissolution of the sulfides. Black precipitates formed in the microbial column during the experiments and were identified as iron sulfide and copper sulfide. Arsenic was observed to be adsorbed on surface of iron sulfide precipitate.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.402-409
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• 2010

The study was conducted to estimate the contents of heavy metal in commercial herbal medicines (1047 samples of 132 species) which were collected from markets in Seoul and to analyze the contents of heavy metals of herbal medicines by classifying them by parts. The samples were digested using microwave method. The contents of heavy metal (Pb, Cd, and As) and Hg were determined using Inductively coupled plasma-Mass spectrometer (ICP/MS). And the contents of Hg were obtained by Mercury analyzer. The average values of heavy metal in herbal medicines were as follows [mean (minimum-maximum), mg/kg]; Pb 0.870 (ND-69.200), As 0.148 (ND-2.965), Cd 0.092 (ND-2.010), and Hg 0.007 (ND-0.B7). And the average values of heavy metal by parts in herbal medicines were as follows [mean (minimum-maximum), mg/kg]; Ramulus 2.046 (0.065-4.474), Herba 1.886 (0.048-10.404), Flos 1.874 (0.052-5.393), Cortex 1.377 (0.011-4.837), Radix 1.165 (0.012-70.111), Rhizoma 1.116 (0.016-5.490, Fructus 0.838 (0.017-4.527), Perithecium 0.729 (0.013-4.953), Semen 0.646 (0.006-4.416). The average values of heavy metal of imported herbal medicines except Radix were higher than domestic ones. By decoction of herbal medicines exceeding the tolerances, average intake rates of Pb, As, Cd and Hg were obtained as 6.1%, 40.3%, 4.7%, and 2.2%, respectively.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.28-39
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• 2011

This review investigated theoretical principals and practical application examples on recirculation system of soil washing-wastewater treatment-treated water recycling. As for technologies which have attempted to remediating metals-contaminated soil in and around country, there are reactive barriers, encapsulation, solidification/stabilization, soil washing, and phytoremediation. Among those, in particular, this review covers soil washing technology which physicochemically removes contaminants from soils. The major drawbacks of this technology are to generate a large amount of wastewater which contains contaminants complexed with ligands of washing solution and needs additional treatment process. To solve these problems, many chemical treatment methods have been developed as follows: precipitation/coprecipitation, membrane filtration, adsorption treatment, ion exchange, and electrokinetic treatment. In the last part of the review, recent research and field application cases on soil washing wastewater treatment and recycling were introduced. Based on these integrated technologies, it could be achieved to solve the problem of soil washing wastewater and to enhance cost effective process by reducing total water resources use in soil washing process.