• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.51 no.1
• /
• pp.36-44
• /
• 2008

Organic forms of arsenic (As) were determined through fractionation procedure of soil organic matter (SOM) in soil, sediments and mine tailing samples from the Myungbong, Dongil, and Okdong mining areas of southern Korea. An alkaline extraction method was applied to soil samples followed by the fractionation procedures of SOM by the DAX-8 and XAD-4 resin adsorption method. Major fraction of organic As species (42% to 98%) was found in acid-soluble fraction, whereas minor fraction (0.1 % to 67.8%) was present in the humic-associated As. In acid-soluble fractions, the transphillic- and hydrophilic-associated As were dominant in addition to As binding with humic and fulvic SOM. Arsenic binding was the strongest between pH 6 to 8 and reduced to about 70% at both low and high pH regions. The amount of both transphillic and hydrophillic associated As was less changed than humic and fulvic-associated As, in both low and high pH regions. This apparently indicates that As has stronger affinity towards hydrophillic rather than hydrophobic organics. From the experimental observation of As-binding SOM in natural soil, the ligand exchange model may be a feasible explanation of transphillic and hydrophillic affinity of As.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.48 no.2
• /
• pp.146-152
• /
• 2015

Heavy metal pollution has been a critical problem in agricultural field near at the abandoned metal mines and chemical amendments are applied for remediation purpose. However, biological activity can be changed depending on chemical amendments affecting crop productivity. Main purpose of this research was to evaluate biological parameters after applying chemical amendments in heavy metal polluted agricultural field. Result showed that soil respiration (SR) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) were changed after chemical amendments were applied. Among three different amendments, lime stone (LS), steel slag (SS), and acid mine drainage sludge(AMDS), AMDS had an effect to increase SR in paddy soil. Comparing to control ($93.98-170.33mg\;kg^{-1}day^{-1}$), average of 30% increased SR was observed. In terms of MBC, SS had an increased effect in paddy soil. However, no significant difference of SR and MBC was observed in upland soil after chemical amendment application. Overall, SR can be used as an indicator of heavy metal remediation in paddy soil.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
• /
• v.29 no.A
• /
• pp.55-60
• /
• 2009

Stabilization treatment is one of processes for wastes and their components to reduce their toxicity and migration rates to surroundings. Inorganic binders such as calcium hydroxide, blast furnace slag and red mud were tested for their potential applicability to in-situ stabilization of heavy metal contaminated tailings in the abandoned metal mines. Columns(150mm dia. ${\times}$ 450mm length) filled with mixtures of inorganic binders and tailing from the Geumjang mine with various mixing ratios of binders to tailings, 5%, 7% and 9% were applied artificial rainfall tests for 28 days. Effluents from columns filled with calcium hydroxide and tailing showed high pH's of ~12.5 and a increasing trend of concentration in Pb and Zn with a significant decrease in permeability in terms of elapsed days. Those with burning slag and tailing showed pH's of ~8.5 and significantly low concentrations in heavy metals with a stable permeability. In case of red mud, effluents showed significantly low concentrations in heavy metals but a decreased permeability with pH's of ~10.5. Conclusively, this basic study suggests burning furnace slag be a potential stabilizer for effective treatment of heavy metal contaminated mine tailings.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.45 no.6
• /
• pp.561-568
• /
• 2019

Objectives: The most commonly detected heavy metals in rocks and soils, including Pb, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn and As, are representative pollutants discharged from abandoned mines and have been listed as potential sources of contamination in drinking water. This study focused on increasing the removal efficiency of heavy metals from drinking water resources by surface modification of natural adsorbents to reduce potential health risks. Methods: Iron oxide coating and graft polymerization with zeolites and talc was conducted for bipolar surface modification to increase the combining capacity of heavy metals for their removal from water. The removal efficiency of heavy metals was measured before and after the surface modification. Results: The removal efficiency of Pb, Cu, and Cd by surface modified zeolite showed 100, 92, and 61.5%, respectively, increases compared to 64, 64, and 38% for non-modified zeolite. This implies that bipolar surface modified natural adsorbents have a good potential use in heavy metal removal. The more interesting finding is the removal increase for As, which has both cation and anion characteristics showing 27% removal efficiency where as non-modified zeolite showed only 2% removal. Conclusions: Zeolite is one of the most widely used adsorptive materials in water treatment processes and bipolar surface modification of zeolite increases its applicability in the removal of heavy metals, especially As.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
• /
• 2008.10a
• /
• pp.1440-1445
• /
• 2008

There are 21 abondoned coal mines drained out mine water in gyeong sang do. We monitored the water quality of 31 mine drainage from 1995. The most of mine drainage was neutral as the average pH was 6.22 and Fe, Mn, Al concentration was below 10mg/L. The result showed the tendency of decreasing of flow and metal concentration. The highest Mn concentration was detected in bonghwa area and the hightest Fe concentration was detected in munkyung area. It means that the water quality is closly related to geological features.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
• /
• v.30 no.A
• /
• pp.37-43
• /
• 2010

Polymeric materials in addition to Portland cement and hydrated limes were used to solidify heavy metal contaminated tailings from five abandoned metal mines in Korea. Mine tailings were mixed separately with Portland cement and hydrated lime at a concentration of 20-30 wt% and 6-9 wt%, respectively and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate(EVA) powder was added to each specimen at a ratio of 2.5 and 5.0 wt% to binders. Polymer-added and polymer-free solidified forms were evaluated for their appropriateness in accordance with the suggested test methods. Regardless of addition of polymeric materials, all solidified forms satisfy the uniaxial compressive strength(UCS) requirements(0.35MPa) for land reclamation and show remarkably reduced leaching concentrations of heavy metals such as As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn less than the toxicity criteria of Korean standard leaching test(KSLT). The addition of polymeric materials increased the UCS of solidified forms to improve a long-term stability of solidified mine tailings.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.5-11
• /
• 2010

Abandoned mines release acid mine drainage and cause the contamination of soil and crops around the mine area. The objective of current study is to evaluate effect of mine on the soil and crop contamination. Soils, water, and crops were collected and analyzed, and the heavy metal data were classified into types of the soil, types of crops, and distance from the minehead. Surface soils of the mine area were highly contaminated with heavy metals, especially with zinc and lead. Tailings and cultivated paddy soils were also highly contaminated. Heavy metal concentrations upon distance from minehead decrease steadily as the distance from the minehead increase. The correlation between heavy metals was extracted from soils and the content in the rice samples showed a positive relation for arsenic and cadmium but not a meaningful relation for other metals.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.49 no.5
• /
• pp.237-246
• /
• 2023

Background: Arsenic is a metalloid of public health significance due to its unique material properties and toxicity and the widespread pollution in the environment. Arsenic exists as inorganic arsenic and organic arsenic with distinct chemical properties. Its toxicity varies depending on the properties. Objectives: Although the carcinogenicity of arsenic has been identified, the various diseases that occur after acute and chronic exposure to arsenic are not yet clearly known. Methods: Research on the effects of chronic exposure to arsenic on human health was searched and the results were summarized. Results: It has been found that cancer occurs due to exposure to high concentrations of arsenic in areas with elevated exposure to arsenic, but research results have recently been presented on health effects caused by chronic exposure to low concentrations of arsenic. Cancers have also been identified to be related to inorganic arsenic, including skin cancer, lung cancer, and bladder cancer. Significant relationships with neurological diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes mellitus have been suggested as well. Conclusions: Our results suggest that it is necessary to evaluate the health impact on residents around abandoned metal mines and industrial complexes in South Korea.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.43-51
• /
• 2011

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to investigate the arsenic (As) contaminations in polished rice cultivated nearby abandoned mine areas, and to estimate the potential health risk through dietary intake of As-enriched polished rice in each age-gender population. METHODS AND RESULTS: The As contents in polished rice grown fifteen abandoned mine areas were analyzed. The average daily intake (ADD) as well as probabilistic health risk were estimated by assuming probability distribution of exposure parameters. The average total As concentration in polished rice was $0.09{\pm}0.06$ mg/kg with a range of 0.02~0.35 mg/kg. For health risk assessment, the ADD values in all age-gender populations did not exceed the provisional tolerable daily intake (PTDI) of 2.1 ${\mu}g/kg$ b.w./day for inorganic As. Cancer risk probability (R) values were $2.45{\sim}3.28{\times}10^{-4}$ and $2.51{\sim}5.75{\times}10^{-4}$ for all age population and gender population, respectively. Particularly, the R value, $5.75{\times}10^{-4}$, for children less than six years old were estimated to be high. Hazard quotient (HQ) values were 0.23~0.31 and 0.11~0.33 for general population and age-gender population, respectively. CONCLUSION(s): The average R values assessed via intake of polished rice cultivated in abandoned mine areas exceeded the acceptable cancer risk of $10^{-6}{\sim}10^{-4}$ for regulatory purpose. Considering the HQ values smaller than 1.0, potential non-cancer toxic effects may not be caused by the long-time exposure through intake of As-contaminated polished rice.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.47-52
• /
• 2010

Physical, chemical and biological properties of soils and cadmium(Cd) content of Artemisia princeps var. orientalis collected from 10 metalliferous mines were analysed. Cd contents of unplanted soils and rhizosphere soils were not significantly different(p < 0.05), and mean values were 5.92 and 5.91 mg/kg, respectively. In addition, Cd content of rhizosphere soils were correlated with Cd content of Artemisia princeps (p < 0.05, ${R^2}_{shoot}$ = 0.3120, ${R^2}_{root}$ = 0.4177). Minimum data set(MDS) of soil quality parameters for statistical assessment of Cd uptake was established by principal component analysis, and it was identified as organic matter(OM), dehydrogenase activity(DHA), pH, exchangeable Mg. According to multiple regression analysis using the MDS, coefficients of determination ($R^2$) for Cd uptake of shoot and root of Artemisia princeps were found to be 0.3418 and 0.5121, respectively. This suggests that statistical soil quality assessment using the MDS seems a useful tool to interpret heavy metal uptake of plant.