• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.27-33
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• 2010

The purpose of this study was in search of native plant species showing metal-resistant property and excessively accumulating heavy metals in metal-contaminated soil or abandoned mines as well as in evaluation of applicability of phytoremediation. In the study area, species showing excessively accumulating heavy metals were a shepherd´s purse, pampas grass, a Korean lettuce, a Hwansam vine, the Korean persicary, a foxtail, a goosefoot, and a water pepper. The first screened plant species in Sambo mine were as shepherd's purse, Korean lettuce and pampas grass Among them the shepherd´s purse can be excluded because it is a seasonal plant and has lower removal capacity for heavy metals. The Korean lettuce was also excluded because of having lower removal capacity for heavy metals. Pampas grass is a highly bionic plant species constantly growing from spring. However it has weak points such as little accumulation capacity for zinc as well as small values of an accumulation factor and a translocation factor. Another problem is regarded as removal of roots after the clean up if pampas grass is applied to a farmland. In Sanyang mine, wormwood and Sorijaengi were considered as adaptable species.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.53-63
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• 2013

It is well known that problem for contaminated soil with heavy metals is mainly produced from agricultural land around abandoned metal mine and the cost to solve them is much higher than those of water and air pollution in addition, it takes much more time to clarify the contaminated soil. Until now, economical and practical many techniques to remediate contaminated soils with heavy metals have been developed and proposed. Therefore, in this study, characteristic, merit and weakness for various techniques which are developing and commercializing recently in domestic/foreign country will be reviewed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 1998.11a
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• pp.183-188
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• 1998

The efficiency of removing cadmium, copper, and lead from a contaminated soil of abandoned metal mine was studied in a laboratory investigation where citric acid were used to extract the metal from the soil. The contamination level of Pb, Cu in the soil A were 875.5, 667.5mg/kg respectively. The mobility and bioavailability of the metals in soil were also estimated by Sequential Chemical Extractions. Citric acid were examined for its potential extractive capabilities. Concentrations of the acid examined in this study ranged from 0.025 to 0.15M. The pH of the suspensions and S/S ratio in which the extractions were performed ranged from 2.4 to 8.1, and from 2.1:1 to 20:1. Results showed that the removal of contaminant using citric acid was pH and S/S raton dependent.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.29-36
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• 2010

Several mines including Namil, Solim and Jungbong which are located in the Gyeonggi and Kangwon province have been abandoned and closed since 1980 due to "The promotion policy of mining industry". An enormous amount of mining wastes was disposed without proper treatment, which caused soil pollution in tailing dam and ore-dressing plant areas. However, any quantitative assessment was not performed about soil and water pollution by transporting mining wastes such as acid mine drainage, mine tailing, and rocky waste. In this research, heavy metals in mining wastes were analyzed according to leaching method which used 0.1 N HCl and total solution method which used Aqua-regia to recognize the ecological effect of distance from hot spot. We sampled tailings, rocky wastes and soils around the abandoned mine. Chemical and physical parameters such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total organic carbon (TOC), soil texture and heavy metal concentration were analyzed. The range of soil's pH is between 4.3 and 6.4 in the tailing dam and oredressing plant area due to mining activity. Total concentrations of As, Cu, and Pb in soil near ore dressing plant area are 250.9, 249.3 and 117.2 mg/kg respectively, which are higher than any other ones near tailing dam area. Arsenic concentration in tailing dams is 31.0 mg/kg, which is also considered as heavily polluted condition comparing with the remediation required level(RRL) in "Soil environment conservation Act".

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.4B
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• pp.261-266
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• 2012

In this study, soil environmental impact assessment using risk-based approach was compared with that using concentration-based approach. For this, heavy metal contaminant exposure was characterized in an abandoned mine area. According to the estimated carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks, soil ingestion was identified as the most dominant exposure pathway. When contaminant concentrations exceeded the Korean Soil Contamination Warning Standards, their corresponding risk values also exceeded the Total Soil Risk Standard. Even the cases of satisfying the Korean Soil Contamination Warning Standards mostly showed higher risk levels than the Total Soil Risk Standard, re-confirming a more sensitivity of the risk-based assessment than concentration-based assessment. However, the in-depth analysis of the estimated non-carcinogenic risk values revealed a few cases for soil contact pathway showing contaminant concentrations higher than the Korean Soil Contamination Warning Standards although their non-carcinogenic risk values satisfied the level of Hazard Index Standard. The findings from this study support a necessity of shifting policy paradigm from concentration-based approach into risk-based approach for reliable risk assessment in abandoned mine areas, and also suggest a necessity of further fundamental studies regarding risk factors and standards.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.279-285
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• 2010

This study was conducted to evaluate the differences between the heavy metal contaminated and non-contaminated Artemisia princeps var. orientalis and Equisetum arvense in litter decomposition processes. The plant samples were collected from abandoned mine tailings and control sites in Cheongyang, South Korea. The abandoned mine tailings have high heavy metal concentration and low soil organic matter contents. The heavy metal contents of mine tailings were about 13 and 28 times higher in As and Cd, compared to those in control soils. Also, the contents of the Cr, Ni and Zn in mine tailings were about 3 to 6 times higher than those in control soil. Samples of two plant species from mine tailings have high heavy metal concentrations compared to those from control sites. The leaf of A. princeps var. orientalis and shoot of E. arvense collected from mine tailings have approximately 23 and 58 times more in As, and 25 and 11 times more in Cd. The mass loss rates of plant litter from mine tailings were slower than those from control sites. During the experimental period, the decomposition of A. princeps var. orientalis leaf from mine tailings and control site showed 50.4% and 65.7% mass loss on the control soil area, respectively. The decomposition of A princeps var. orientalis leaf from mine tailings and control site showed 31.6% and 57.5% mass loss on the mine tailings area, respectively. The decomposition of A. princeps var. orientalis stem from mine tailings and control site showed similar patterns with their leaf decomposition. The decomposition of E. arvense shoot from mine tailings and control site showed 77.8% and 89.3% mass loss on the control soil area, respectively. The decomposition of E. arvense shoot from mine tailings and control site showed 67.6% and 82.1% mass loss on the mine tailings area, respectively. Therefor, the higher contents of heavy metals showed slow decomposition. The results suggested that heavy metal contamination affected the plant litter decomposition processes.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.456-464
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• 2010

Recently, heavy metals contamination of the agricultural soil and crops surrounding mining areas has been identified as one of the most serious environmental problems in South Korea. The Ministry of the Environment in Korea conducted a Preliminary National Environmental Health Survey (PNEHS) in abandoned metal mines in 2007. The priority for a subsequent detailed examination was ranked from the results of PNEHS. The studied mine which was ranked as being of the highest priority is located in the midwestern part of Korea and was operated from 1911 to 1985. In this study, the contamination levels of the heavy metals in the abandoned metal mine were investigated. From the results, the average daily dose (ADD), target hazard quotient (THQ) and target cancer risk of the heavy metals were evaluated. The concentration of arsenic (As) in all of the tailings from the mine was higher than its countermeasure standard of Korea. In particular, the highest concentration of As, 330 mg/kg, was up to 15 times higher than its countermeasure standard. The average concentration of As in agricultural soils was higher than the warning standard of Korea, and higher than its countermeasure standard at six sites. The average concentrations of the analyzed heavy metals in agricultural soil were below the warning standard, but concentrations of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) at 4 sites were higher than its warning standard. The average concentration of As in surface water exceeded the warning standard of Korea. The value of the THQ of As for the tailings was higher than the health protection standard 1. The value of THQ of As for the farmlands was lower than the standard, while the hazard index (HI) of As was higher than the standard. The value of target cancer risk (TCR) of As, $6.44{\times}10^{-4}$, were higher than the health protection standard of a lifetime risk for TCR at $1{\times}10^{-6}$. This suggests that the residents around the metal mines are exposed to As pollution with a carcinogenic risk.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.28 no.B
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• pp.65-69
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• 2008

The tailings piled in abandoned mines are well-known potential sources of soil contamination. Hydrated limes were applied as cementing materials to solidify heavy metal contaminated tailings for the purpose of reducing their toxicity and migration rates. The optimum mixing ratio of tailings, hydrated lime, and water was determined through a preliminary test. The mixtures of mine tailings and hydrated lime solidified through pozzolanic reaction were tested for their durability against repeated freezing and thawing processes. After repeated freezing and thawing, the uniaxial compressive strengths of all the solidified mixture specimens decreased in comparison with those before test but still higher than $3.5kgf/cm^2$, the standard recommended for land reclamation solids by EPA(Environmental Protection Agency), which suggested that hydrated lime be a potential material to treat the abandoned mine tailings for the environmental purpose.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.79-87
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• 2010

Field water qualities (temperature, pH, Eh, EC, DO) was monitored by 6 times March to September 2009 on background water (BW) and acid mine drainage (AMD0, AMD1, AMD2 and AMD3 points), and flow rate was measured on AMD0 point. Acid mine drainage flowed out from abandoned Ilgwang mine were high acid waters that lower than pH 3, and Eh component was ranged 400 to 600 mV. EC measured on acid mine drainage were higher over 10 times than background water, DO component was increased by reaction on the air during the water flow from AMD0 point to AMD4 point. Heavy metal concentrations in acid mine drainage were ordered Fe > Cu > Zn > Mn > As > Cd, and Fe concentration was highest for 81.870~474.30 mg/L. Monitoring periods measured maximum concentrations of heavy metals were May for As and Cd, June for Fe, July for Cu, Zn and Mn. The periods measured minimum concentrations were monitored April for Cd and Mn, September for Fe, Cu, Zn and As. Discharge mass of heavy metal components were calculated 53.44 kg for Fe, 6.25 kg for Cu, 5.26 kg for Zn, 2.13 kg for Mn, 0.14 kg for As and 0.04 kg for Cd, respectively. Total discharge mass of heavy metal components were calculated 67.26 kg for 1 day, and Fe component was taken 79% of total mass.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.221-227
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• 2013

A risk assessment of environmental media was performed for the inhabitants in the area of the abandoned Nokdong metal mine. Soil, groundwater, and crop samples were collected from September to October 2008 around the mine. After pretreatment of these samples, metal concentrations were measured, and a risk assessment was performed using the Korean soil-contamination risk assessment guidelines. Lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) intake rates were the highest for inhalation of soil dust. The cancer risks from ingestion of As-contaminated groundwater, inhalation of As-, Cd-, and Pb-contaminated soils, and contact of As-contaminated soils exceeded the acceptable risk. The sum of all carcinogenic risks was $9.29{\times}10^{-3}$. The non-carcinogenic risk was highest for ingestion of As-contaminated water (11.0), followed, in descending order, by inhalation of Hg-contaminated soil and ingestion of Pb-contaminated water. Most of the risks were associated with As, Cd, Pb, and Hg contamination, and therefore, these metals were considered to be potential toxic carcinogens and non-carcinogens for humans in this area. In this study, the non-carcinogenic risks of ingestion of contaminated water or crops, as well as those associated with the inhalation of soil dust were observed.