• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2013

Little research has been conducted to explore the heavy metal removal potential of biochar. The adsorption characteristics of heavy metals by sesame waste biochar (pyrolysis at $600^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour) as heavy metal absorbent were investigated. The sesame waste biochar was characterized by SEM-EDS and FT-IR, and heavy metal removal was studied using Freundlich and Langmuir equations. The removal rates of heavy metals were higher in the order of Pb>Cu>Cd>Zn, showing that the adsorption efficiency of Pb was higher than those of any other heavy metals. Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherms were used to model the equilibrium adsorption data obtained for adsorption of heavy metals on biochar produced from sesame waste. Pb, Cu, Cd and Zn equilibrium adsorption data were fitted well to the two models, but Pb gave a better fit to Langmuir model. Heavy metals were observed on the biochar surface after adsorption by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Main functional groups were aromatic C=O ring (at $1160cm^{-1}$, $1384cm^{-1}$ and $1621cm^{-1}$) by FT-IR analysis. Thus, biochar produced from sesame waste could be useful adsorbent for treating heavy metal wastewaters.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.264-270
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• 2012

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was that serum metabolic and hematological variables were measured to investigate the detoxication effect of Taraxacum mongolicum extract on male albino rat exposed with lead and mercury. METHODS AND RESULTS: For this study, Pb and Hg-exposed( 50 ppm) albino rats was used, and the treatments were carried out in three doses of 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg as dry weight of T. mongolicum extract. T. mongolicum extract could improved the body weight gain and feed efficiency ratio, except to food intake. The levels of biochemical factors elevated by Pb-Hg mix exposure, which are Bilirubin, Alkaline phosphatase(ALP), glutamic oxaloacetate transaminase(GOT), glutamic pyruvate transaminase (GPT), lactate dehydrogenase(LDH), ceatinine and blood urea nitrogen(BUN), were significantly reduced in all treated groups as compared to Pb-Hg mix exposure alone. T. mongolicum extract was shown to suppress the accumulation of Hg and Pb in serum by dose dependent manner. CONCLUSION: Therefore, this study suggest that T. mongolicum extract might have the potential effect to minimize the toxic effects of Pb and Hg.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.178-182
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• 2002

This study was conducted to estimate the status of heavy metal contamination in agricultural products (n = 280), soils (n = 280), and irrigation waters (n = 48) in abandoned mines & normal farm lands (n = 8). The samples were digested with acids, then analyzed fur the contents of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), arsenic (As) and chrome (Cr) by an inductively coupled plasma spectrometer (ICP) and graphite- atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The contents of Hg were determined using a mercury analyzer. Abandoned mines had soils with higher contents of heavy metals except Cr and irrigation waters with higher heavy metals except Hg, compared to those of normal farmlands. The contents of heavy metals in agriculture products varied depending types of products. Agricultural products in abandoned mines generally showed with higher contents of heavy metals except Cu, compared to those of normal farmlands. There was no significant relationship in heavy metal contents between agricultural products and soils (p > 0.05). It is suggested that heavy metals of agricultural products and soils in abandoned mines should be continuously monitored.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.17-26
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• 2014

In this study, the adsorption efficiency of mixed heavy metals from an aqueous solution was examined using bentonite. The physical and chemical properties of bentonite was analyzed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Further, heavy metal adsorption was characterized using Freundlich and Langmuir equations. Equilibrium adsorption data were fitted well to the Langmuir model for bentonite. The adsorption uptake of heavy metals was high and followed the order $Pb^{2+}$ > $Cu^{2+}$ > $Cd^{2+}$ > $$Zn^{2+}{\sim_=}Ni^{2+}$$. The results also showed that adsorption uptake slightly increased as increasing pH from 6 to 10. The bentonite surface was observed viay SEM and FT-IR; Si-O and Si-O-Al were found to be the main functional groups by FT-IR analysis. From these results, the adsorption mechanisms of heavy metal were not only surface adsorption and ion exchange, but also surface precipitation. Thus, bentonite could be a useful adsorbent for treating heavy metal in aqueous solution.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.258-266
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• 2019

Objectives: In this study, blood lead was analyzed using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAs) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). We tried to examine the difference and consistency of the analytical values and the applicability of the analytical method. Methods: We selected 57 people who agreed to participate in this study. After confirming the linearity of the calibration standard curves in GF-AAs and ICP-MS, the concentrations of lead in quality control material and samples were measured, and the degree of agreement was compared. Results: The detection limit of the ICP-MS was lower than that of GF-AAs. The coefficient of variation of reference materials was shown to be stable in the ICP-MS and GF-AAs. When the correspondence between the two equipments was verified by bias of the analysis values, a concordance was shown, and approximately 98% of the ideal reference lines were present within ${\pm}40%$ of the deflection. Conclusion: GF-AAs showed high sensitivity to single heavy metal analysis, but it took much time and showed higher detection limit than ICP-MS. Therefore, it would be considered necessary to switch to ICP-MS analysis method, considering that the level of lead exposure is gradually decreasing.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.429-438
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• 2018

Since concrete is a hardened aggregates of various materials, it needs to be crushed for chemical analyses. However, the effect of sample crushing on the analytical results has not been precisely assessed till today. In this study, we prepared concrete test pieces using Portand cements and fly ashes as binding materials, and ponded ashes and sands as aggregates and analyzed the heavy metals of the test pieces using Standards for Fair Testing of Soil Contamination (SFTSC) and Wastes (SFTW). For this, each test piece was partially crushed at first and sieved for separation of grains of <0.15 mm, 0.15-0.5 mm, and 0.5-5 mm from the same crushed samples (Crushing Method I). Results of those samples using SFTSC showed a clear trend that analyzed heavy metal concentrations are higher in the finer fractions. Particularly, fractions with <0.15 mm indicated much higher concentrations than the theoretical ones, which were calculated based on the concentrations of individual materials and their mixing fractions. In contrast, the analytical results were generally comparable with the theoretical ones when the test pieces were totally pulverized such that all the crushed grains were <0.15 mm in size (Crushing Method II). These results are associated with the fact that cement materials and fly ashes, which are high in heavy metals relative to other materials, are enriched in the fine fractions. The analytical results using the SFTW derived very low concentrations in most of parameters and did not indicate the dependence of concentrations on the crushing methods due to using distilled water as leaching agent.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.153-161
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• 2014

The purpose of this study is to evaluate effect of heavy metals (i.e., $Cu^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$, $Cr^{6+}$, $Cd^{2+}$, $Hg^{2+}$, and $Pb^{2+}$) to toxicity of Triclosan as binary mixture. The individual toxicity and combined toxic effects of Triclosan with heavy metals were evaluated by Vibrio fischeri assay. In individual toxicity, the $Hg^{2+}$ was found to be most toxic followed by Triclosan, $Pb^{2+}$, $Cr^{6+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$, and $Cd^{2+}$, respectively. To evaluate combined toxic effect, correlation analysis of 'predicted value' calculated by Concentration addition (CA) model and Independent action (IA) model with 'experimental value' were performed based on the toxicity of individual compound. As a result, all of the combinations showed that IA model were more correlated with experimental value than CA model. On the basis of the median effect concentration of combination ($EC_{50mix}$) predicted by IA model, experimental $EC_{50mix}$ of Triclosan + Cu, Triclosan + Zn, Triclosan + Pb, Triclosan + Hg, Triclosan + Cd, and Triclosan + Cr were 191%, 226%, 138%, 137%, 209%, and 138% of $EC_{50mix}$ predicted by IA model, respectively, indicating that all of the combinations produced antagonistic effect.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.73-82
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• 2006

Dust samples were collected from 10 middle and high schools in the Gochang-Gun, Korea. Heavy metal concentrations were determined for the dry-deposited dusts from indoor and outdoor of classroom and playground of each sampling site. Concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in indoor's dusts were highly concentrated. Also concentrations of Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in outdoor's dusts were highly concentrated. Concentrations of Cd, Cu and Zn in the dusts were much higher than the world average contents in soil and environmental orientation value. These levels are similar to those of the dust samples at middle schools and high schools located in Jeonju-city, Korea. Compared with concentrations of heavy metals in soils and dusts in Korea, the environment of indoor and outdoor of classroom is highly concentrated except for Cu, Zn. The concentrations of playground is less than that of residential dust and main road dust and playground in Jeonju-city. Playground dusts in 1 school exhibited the enhanced heavy metal pollution with a pollution index (Kloke, 1979) greater than 1.0, but indoor and outdoor dusts in 7 schools exhibited the enhanced heavy metal pollution with a pollution index (by Kloke) yester than 1.0.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.25-34
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• 2014

The objective of this study was to investigate the removal characteristics and the elimination mechanism of heavy metals in Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) using spherical-type porous Zeolite-StarFish ceramics (porous ZSF ceramics) packed in a continuous column reactor system. The average removal efficiencies of heavy metals in AMD were Al 98.7, As 98.7, Cd 96.0, Cu 89.1, Fe 99.5, Mn 94.4, Pb 96.3 and Zn 80.8 % during 110 days of operation time. The average removal capacity of porous ZSF ceramics for heavy metals were measured to be Al 21.76, As 1.52, Cd 1.27, Cu 3.41, Fe 44.83, Mn 3.48, Pb 2.36 and Zn $3.76mg/kg{\cdot}day$. The analysis results of mechanism using SEM, EDS and XRD exhibited that the porous ZSF ceramics could act as a multi-functional ceramics for the removal of heavy metals in AMD through the reactions of precipitation, adsorption and ion-exchange. The experimental results of column reactor system displayed that the porous ZSF ceramics would be a consistently efficient agent for the removal of heavy metals in AMD for a long term.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.61-68
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• 2009

The main objective of this study was to examine the removal of heavy metals from water by inflated vermiculites. The component of vermiculites was analyzed by XRF, and the concentration of metal ion was measured by ICP-AES. Serial batch kinetic tests and batch sorption tests were conducted to determine the removal characteristics for heavy metals in aqueous solutions. As a result, solution pH values of tests with the inflated vermiculites generally increased and then stabilized. Equilibrium pHs were generally established within 5 hrs. In addition, removal rates of inflated vermiculites were tested at the initial concentration of 3 mg/L. As a result, at equilibrium concentration, except for chromium (36.23%), Most of the heavy metals were effectively removed (96.08~98.54%). Finally, sorption data were correlated with both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The Qmax obtained from Langmuir isotherm were determined to Pb $725.4mg\;kg^{-1}$, Cd $568.8mg\;kg^{-1}$, Zn $540.2mg\;kg^{-1}$, Cu $457.2mg\;kg^{-1}$ Cr $0.9mg\;kg^{-1}$ respectively. The results of the study indicate that inflated vermiculites can be properly used as an adsorbent for various heavy metals because of its outstanding removal rate.