• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.1-9
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• 2012

As topographic characteristics of Korea where 64 % of the national land area is forest and only 17 % is being used as farmland, remediation of farmland contaminated by heavy metals is a considerably important issue. In this study, as an alternative of practically and effectively remediating farmland which was abandoned as its crop plants exceeded maximum residue limit of heavy metals due to mining impact, applicability of stabilization method was examined through the pilot-scale field experiment. Three plots ($L{\times}W{\times}D=3m{\times}2m{\times}0.3m$) were installed at the selected farmland and in plot 1, only soil of the selected farmland was applied, in pilot 2, soil of the selected farmland plus 3 % limestone (w/w) was applied and in pilot 3, soil of the selected farmland plus 3 % limestone was applied and then uncontaminated soil was covered thereon (0.3 m). After that, seeds of radish, Korean cabbage and soybean of which characteristics of edible portions are different were sowed on each plot and cultivated. Afterwards, at a proper harvesting time (app. 80 days later), crop plants and soil were collected and phytoavailability (0.11 M HOAc extractable) of heavy metals in soil and accumulated concentration of heavy metal in edible portion of crop plants were examined. As a result, it was revealed that phytoavailability of heavy metals in soil added with limestone (plot 2) was clearly reduced compared with plot 1 (untreated) and owing to this treatment, accumulated concentration of heavy metals in edible portion of crops was also clearly reduced compared with plot 1. While radish cultivated in plot 1 had exceeded maximum residue limit of agricultural products, in particular, plot 2 using limestone had shown concentration lower than maximum residue limit and this plot had shown little difference with 3 plot where crop was cultivated in uncontaminated soil cover. Therefore, it was considered that for abandoned farmland like the selected farmland, reducing mobility and phytoavailability of heavy metals and reducing crop uptake through stabilization method would be an effective and practical alternative for producing safe agricultural products on a sustained basis.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.1-11
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• 2006

Attempts were made to analyze the national policy of soil contamination prevention and management of inactive or abandoned metal (IAM) mines in Korea. This approach focused on legal systems and legislation, remediation technology development, and the arrangement or distribution of budgets pertaining to national policy since the mid 1990's. Prevention of Mining Damage and Recovery Act enacted. Defines the roles, responsibility and budget of the government when recovering mine damages. However, in 2005 there still remains to improve the national policy of soil contamination prevention and management of IAM mines. Analysis of national and industrialized foreign countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands suggest the following improvements: i) arranging distinct regulations between strict and non-strict liability criteria for potentially responsible parties; limiting innocent and non-strict liability depending on the period of incurred mining activity, ii) enhancing participation of local communities by enforcing law and legislation, iii) establishing a national database system of (potentially) IAM contaminated sites based on the Website-Geographic Information System, iv) carrying out site-specific risk assessments and remediation of IAM contaminated sites, v) preparation and distribution of clean-up fund at mine sites adequately, and vi) technology development for the cleaning of IAM contaminated sites; awarding positive incentives of a legal nature for participants applying newly developed technology in IAM mines.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.29-43
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• 2024

The purpose of this study was to analyze the soil on two waste areas that lack plants to find out the limiting factors of plant introduction, and to find out the possibility of plant introduction through plant growth experiments by mixing the two waste soil. In the case of tungsten waste soil, insufficient organic matter, water content, effective phosphoric acid, and nitrogen content were the limiting factors for plant introduction, and in the case of coal waste soil, low pH of the soil acted as the limiting factors for natural introduction. Growth experiments showed that the number of leaves of Ipomoea nil grown in soil mixed with both waste soil was 2.7 times greater than that of Ipomoea nil grown in tungsten waste soil, and 2.29 times greater than that of Ipomoea nil grown in coal waste soil. The fresh weight comparison showed that Ipomoea nil grown in soil mixed with the two waste soil had a fresh weight of 2.64 times higher than that of tungsten waste soil and 2.45 times higher than that of coal waste soil. There was no significant difference in the fresh weight of Ipomoea nil grown in soil mixed with the two waste soil and in general soil. Therefore, when the two waste soil are mixed, it can be judged that the components unfavorable to growth complement each other, improving the soil and being effective in plant growth.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2014

BACKGROUND: Recent studies using many amendments for heavy metal stabilization in soil were conducted in order to find out new materials. But, the studies accounting for the use of appropriate amendments considering soil pH remain incomplete. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of initial soil pH on the efficiency of various amendments. METHODS AND RESULTS: Acid soil and alkali soil contaminated with heavy metals were collected from the agricultural soils affected by the abandoned mine sites nearby. Three different types of amendments were selected with hypothesis being different in stabilization mechanisms; organic matter, lime stone and iron, and added with different combination. For determining the changes in the extractable heavy metals, water soluble, Mehlich-3, Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure, Simple Bioavailability Extraction Test method were applied as chemical assessments for metal stabilization. For biological assessments, soil respiration and root elongation of bok choy (Brassica campestris ssp. Chinensis Jusl.) were determined. CONCLUSION: It was revealed that lime stone reduced heavy metal mobility in acid soil by increasing soil pH and iron was good at stabilizing heavy metals by supplying adsorption sites in alkali soil. Organic matter was a good source in terms of supplying nutrients, but it was concerning when accounting for increasing metal availability.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.56-66
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• 2016

Generally, the contribution of crop-intake pathway (CIP) is remarkable in human health assessment (HHA) of heavy metal contamination. Although the crop exposure concentrations (Cp) should directly be used for calculating the average daily dose (ADD) of CIP, the soil exposure concentration (Cs) multiplied by soil-crop bio-concentration factor (BCF) has frequently been used instead of using Cp values. Thus, the BCF values are significant in the HHA, and care should be taken to ensure the reasonable acquisition of BCF values. Meanwhile, the BCF values are known to be significantly affected by analytical methods. Nevertheless, they have been calculated from the concentrations of soil and crop analyzed by only one method: total digestion (aqua regia extraction). For this reason, this study was initiated to seek appropriate soil analysis methods for effective computation of the ADD of CIP. The concentrations of 5 metal contaminants (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn) in 127 soil samples obtained from 4 abandoned metal mine areas were analyzed by several methods including total digestion and partial digestions using 0.1/1 N HCl, 1M $NH_4NO_3$, 0.1 M $NaNO_3$, and 0.01M $CaCl_2$. The heavy metal concentrations in 127 crop samples (rice grains) were analyzed by total digestion as well. Using the concentrations of soils and crops, the BCF values of each contaminant were calculated according to the kind of soil extraction methods applied. Finally, the errors between Cp and $C_s{\times}BCF$ were computed to evaluate the relevance of each method. The results indicate that the partial extraction using 0.1 N and 1 N HCl was superior or equivalent to total digestion. In addition, the 0.1M $NaNO_3$ method combined with total digestion is recommended for improving the reliability of BCF values.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.588-589
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• 2002

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.529-539
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• 2019

In this study, heavy metal removal and precipitation characteristics with pH change were studied for artificial acid mine drainage. Artificial acid mine drainage was prepared using sulfates of iron, aluminum, copper, zinc, manganese which contained in acid mine drainage from abandoned mines. The single and mixed five heavy metal samples of Fe, Al, Cu, Zn, and Mn were prepared at initial concentrations of 30 and 70 mg/L. Fe and Al were mostly removed at pH 4.0 and 5.0, respectively, and other heavy metals gradually decreased with increasing pH. Concentration changes with increasing pH show generally similar trend for single and mixed heavy metal samples. The effect of removing heavy metals from aqueous solutions is not related to the initial concentration and depends on the pH change. XRD were used for mineral identification of precipitates and crystallinity of the mineral tended to increase with increasing pH. The precipitates that produced by decreasing the concentration of heavy metals in the aqueous solution composed of Fe-goethite(FeOOH), Al-basaluminite(Al₄(SO₄)(OH)₁₀·4H₂O), Cu-connellite(Cu₁₉(OH)₃₂(SO₄)Cl₄·3H₂O) and tenorite(CuO), Zn-zincite(ZnO), and Mn-hausmannite(Mn₃O₄).

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.222-231
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• 2005

Most of the tailings have been left without any management in abandoned metalliferous mines and have become the main source of heavy metal contamination of agricultural soils and crops in the these areas. To compare of environmental assessment of heavy metals in tailings derived from various 25-metalliferous mines in Korea, 3 different analysis methods such as water soluble, 0.1 M-HCl extractable, and total acid digestion method (aqua regia) were used. The chemical composition of water soluble in mine tailing were in the order ${SO_4}^{2-}>Ca^{2+}>Mn^{2+},\;Na^+,\;Al^{3+}>Mg^{2+},\;Fe^{3+}>Cl^-$. Specially, pH, EC, ${SO_4}^{2-},\;and\;Ca^{2+}$ concentrations in tailing varied considerably among the different mines. The average total concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As in tailing were 31.8, 708, 4,961, 2,275 and 3,235 mg/kg, respectively. Specially, the contents of Cd, Zn and As were higher than those of countermeasure values for soil contamination (Cd : 4, Zn : 700 and As : 15 mg/kg in soil) by Soil Environmental Conservation Act in Korea. The rates of water soluble heavy metals to total contents in tailings were in the order Cd > Zn > Cu > Pb > As. The rates of 0.1M-HCl extractable Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As (1M-HCl) to total content were 17.4, 10.2, 6.5, 6.8 and 11.4% respectively. The enrichment factor of heavy metals in tailings were in the order As > Pb > Cd > Cu > Zn. The pollution index in tailing Au-Ag mine tailing were higher than those of other mine tailing. As a results of enrichment factor and pollution index for heavy metal contaminations in mine tailing of metalliferous mines, the main contaminants are mine waste materials including tailings.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.347-360
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• 2007

In order to evaluate the degree and extent of heavy metal pollution and the environmental impacts of abandoned Cu mines in Goseong-gun, soils and paddies were collected from the mine area and have been analysed for heavy metal contents. The heavy metal contents were much higher in mountain soils than in paddy soils. Total content of heavy metals decreased in order of Cu>Zn>Pb>As>Cr>Cd in mountain soils whereas Zn>Pb>Cu>Cr>As>Cd in paddy soils. The extractable amount of heavy metals by 0.1/1N HCl decreased in order of Cu>Pb>Zn>As>Cd>Cr in mountain soils whereas Pb>Cu>Zn>As>Cd>Cr in paddy soils. Although the extraction ratios were highly various depending on the sampling site, their average values were in order of Cd(16%)>Pb(10%)>Cu(9%)>As(4.5%)>Zn-Cr(${\le}2.5%$). The soils investigated were enriched in heavy metals relative to the averages of earth crust as In order of $As{\ge}Cd$>Pb>Zn>Cu>Cr. Pollution index calculated from total or extractable heavy metals of soils indicated that the heavy metal pollution was restricted to mountain soils around abandoned Cu mines, especially the Samsan I mine. The metal contents of brown rice showed no significantly contaminated level as follows; As $nd{\sim}0.87mg/kg,\;Cd\;0.02{\sim}0.34mg/kg,\;Cu\;1.01{\sim}6.25mg/kg,\;Mn\;13.4{\sim}43.2mg/kg,\;Pb\;0.09{\sim}2.83mg/kg,\;and\;Zn\;16.5{\sim}79.1mg/kg$. From the extraction and dispersion properties of heavy metal with the soil pH ($4.5{\sim}7.8$), it can be deduced the conclusion that the heavy metal pollution is spreading in the study area mainly by the detrital migration of waste ore and gangue minerals rather than the dissolution and circulation of heavy metal.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.9-18
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• 2003

Sampling of waters from each stage of treatment system (Successive Alkalinity Producing System; SAPS), tailings seepage, and spring near the Hanchang coal mine of Kangwon Province were carried out seasonally and analyzed to evaluate the source and possible path of groundwater contamination by acid mine drainage (AM). Sulfur isotope compositions were measured to identify the origin of groundwater contaminations and the sulfate reduction processes in the SAPS. Low pH and high metal concentration of spring water indicates possibility of the groundwater contamination by AMD. Removal efficiency of acidity of the SAPS was 18.17 g/$\textrm{m}^2$/day on an average and the metal removal efficiency was almost 100%, which was higher than those of other treatment systems. However, no appreciable decrease of sulfur content and almost similar sulfur isotope compositions of water from each stage of the treatment system may suggest incomplete or very poor sulfate reduction by sulfate reducing bacteria. Chemical and sulfur isotope compositions showed that spring water was contaminated by seepage from mine tailings. And seepage of stonewall, a part of treatment system was affected by both tailings seepage and mine adit drainage. In this study site, the treatment system was constructed for the only AMD from mine adit not for tailings seepages, which resulted in the groundwater contamination from tailing seepages. Similar situation is expected in other abandoned coal mine areas.