• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.6-13
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: Most of the tailings have been left without any management in abandoned metalliferous mines and have become the main source of heavy metal contamination for agricultural soils and crops in the these areas. METHODS AND RESULTS: This experiment was carried out to investigate the assessment of the heavy metal contamination in paddy soils located on downstream of the closed metalliferous mine. The average total concentrations of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and arsenic (As) in paddy soils were 8.88, 56.7, 809, 754, and 37.9 mg/kg, respectively. Specially, the average concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn were higher than those of warning criteria for soil contamination(4 mg/kg for Cd, 200 mg/kg for Pb, and 300 mg/kg for Zn) in agricultural soil established by Soil Environmental Conservation Act in Korea. The proportions of 0.1 M HCl extractable Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As concentration to total concentration of these heavy metals in paddy soils were 27.7, 21.3, 35.1, 13.8 and 10.5%, respectively. The pollution index of these five metals in paddy soils ranged from 0.42 to 11.92. Also, the enrichment factor (EFc) of heavy metals in paddy soils were in the order as Cd>Pb>Zn>Cu>As, and the enrichment factor in paddy soil varied considerably among the sampling sites. The geoaccumulation index (Igeo) of heavy metals in soils were in the order as Cd>Pb>Zn>Cu>As, specially, the average geoaccumulation index of Cd, Pb, and Zn (Igeo 2.49~3.10) were relatively higher than that of other metals in paddy soils. CONCLUSION: Based on the pollution index, enrichment factor, and geoaccumulation index for heavy metal in paddy soils located on downstream of closed metalliferous mine, the main contaminants are mine waste materials and mine drainage including mine activity.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.39 no.3 s.178
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• pp.213-227
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• 2006

The geochemical evolution of mine drainage and leachate from waste rock dumps and stream water in Pb-As-rich abandoned Sechang mine area was investigated to elucidate mechanisms of trace metals. Total and sequential extractions were applied to estimate the distribution of trace metals in constituent phases of the waste rocks and to assess the mobility of trace metals according to physicochemical conditions. These discharged waters varied largely in chemical composition both spatially and temporally, and included cases with significant]y low pH (in the range 2.1-3.3), and extremely sulphate (up to 661 mg/l and metal contents (e.g. up to 169 mg/l for Zn, 27 mg/l for As, 3.97 mg/l for Pb, 2.99 mg/l for Cu, and 1.88 mg/l for Cd). Arsenic and heavy metal concentrations at the down-stream of Sechang mine have been decreased nearly to the background level in downstream sites (sites 8 and 16) without any artificial treatments. The oxidation of Fe-sulfides and the subsequent hydrolysis, of Fe(II), with precipitation of poorly crystallized minerals, constituted an efficient mechanism of natural attenuation which reduces considerably the transference of trace metals (i.e. Fe and As) to rivers. The dilution of drainage by mixing with pristine waters provoked an additional decrease of trace metal concentrations and a progressive pH increase. On the other hand, the most soluble cations (i.e. Zn) remained significantly as dissolved solutes until the pH was raised to approximately neutral values. With respect to ecotoxicity, it is likely that the Zn pollution is of particular concern in Sechang mine area. This was confirmed by the sequential extraction experiment, where Zn in wet waste-rock samples occurred predominantly in the exchangeable fraction (65-89% of total), while Pb was the highest in the reducible and carbonate fractions, and Cd, Cu and As in the residual fraction. Pb concentration in the readily available exchangeable fraction (34-48% of total) was dominated for dried waste rock samples. Considering the proportion of metals bound to the exchangeable and carbonate fractions, the comparative mobility of metals probably decreased in the order of Zn>Pb>Cd>As=Cu.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.60-67
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• 2010

Although several studies have reported that Cr, Cu and As can leach from CCA-treated woods, few studies have been conducted on this topic in Korea. Therefore, this study was conducted to monitor Cr, Cu and As leaching from CCA-treated wood products and to develop a rapid identification method for CCA-treated wood products by using indicators such as PAN stain. Soil samples were collected at depths of 0-70 cm and wood samples were collected by thickness of wood layer. The soil and wood samples were then digested and analyzed for Cr, Cu and As concentrations using an atomic absorption spectrometer. The As and Cu concentrations decreased sharply with depth from 34.38 and 33.65 mg $kg^{-1}$ at 0-1 cm to 1.72 and 7.84 mg $kg^{-1}$ at 70 cm, respectively. In general, As was more mobile than Cr and Cu in the soil. For wood samples, the Cr, Cu and As concentrations were higher in the outer layer (0-0.5cm) than the inner layers (0.6-4.5cm). Evaluation of rapid identification methods revealed that 100% acetone with 0.1% PAN indicator was the best combination for detection of CCA-treated wood in the field.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 2012

This research was carried out as a survey on the contents of lead, cadmium, and arsenic in processed foods (milk, vegetable oil, and margarine) in Korea. The limits of quantification (LOQs) were Pb 0.3 ${\mu}g/kg$, Cd 0.15 ${\mu}g/kg$, and As 0.45 ${\mu}g/kg$ for milk and Pb 0.61 ${\mu}g/kg$, Cd 0.31 ${\mu}g/kg$, and As 0.91 ${\mu}g/kg$ for vegetable oil and margarine. The recoveries were 92.6-98.0% for Pb, 91.2-98.9% for Cd, and 97.9-104.7% for As. The average levels of Pb were 2.395 ${\mu}g/kg$ for milk, and 7.656 ${\mu}g/kg$ for vegetable oil. The average levels of Cd were 0.483 ${\mu}g/kg$ for milk, and 0.380 ${\mu}g/kg$ for vegetable oil, and levels of As were 0.781 ${\mu}g/kg$ for milk, and 1.241 ${\mu}g/kg$ for vegetable oil. The results of this study showed that Pb, Cd, and As contents in the whole samples were less than the maximum residual levels in the processed foods that were specified by the Codex standard.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.334-339
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• 2014

The purpose of our study was to investigate the migration level of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), antimony (Sb), arsenic (As), hexavalent chromium ($Cr^{6+}$) and mercury (Hg) from cookwares into food simulants and to evaluate the safety of each heavy metals. The test articles for heavy metals were glassware, ceramics, enamel, earthenware, polypropylene and polyethylene cookwares for Pb and Cd, enamel for Sb, earthenware for As, polyethylene and polypropylene cookwares for $Cr^{6+}$ and Hg. All the article samples of 391 intended for contact with foods were purchased in domestic markets. Pb, Cd, Sb and As were analyzed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES), $Cr^{6+}$ by UV visible spectrophotometer and Hg by mercury analyzer. The migration levels of heavy metals in all the samples were within the migration limits of Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). As a result of safety evaluation, our results showed that the estimated daily intakes (EDI, mg/kg bw/day) were $9.12{\times}10^{-6}$ and $8.83{\times}10^{-7}$ for Pb and Cd from ceramics and $1.19{\times}10^{-5}$, $1.23{\times}10^{-5}$ and $7.52{\times}10^{-6}$ for Pb, Cd and Sb from enamel. Tolerable daily intakes (TDI, mg/kg bw/day) were established respectively as 0.0036, 0.00081, 0.0021, and 0.0006 for Pb, Cd, As and Hg by JECFA (Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives), as 0.0060 for Sb by WHO (World Health Organization). When comparing with TDIs, the EDIs accounted for 0.25% and 0.11% for Pb and Cd from ceramics and 0.33%, 1.52% and 0.13% for Pb, Cd and Sb from enamel.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.353-359
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• 2007

This survey was carried out to estimate the heavy metal contents of fishes (531 ocean fishes and 80 freshwater fishes) sold in and around Korea from April to October in 2006 . The contents of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn) and mercury (Hg) were estimated by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and a mercury analyzer. The concentrations [mean (minimum-maximum) mg/kg] of heavy metals in the ocean fishes were as follows: As=2.523 (0.140-65.543), Cd=0.017 (0.000-0.108), Cu=0.569 (0.040-5.634), Pb=0.023 (0.000-0.323), Hg=0.068 (0.002-0.754), Mn=0.395 (0.016-4.651) and Zn=6.086 (0.529-34.729). The concentrations of heavy metals in the freshwater fishes were: As=0.370 (0.024-2.231), Cd=0.01l (ND-0.086), Cu=0.628 (0.003-1.962), Pb=0.026 (ND-0.423), Hg=0.058 (0.006-0.349), Mn=1.150 (0.069-7.230) and Zn=9.980 (3.463-82.737). The weekly intakes of Cd, Hg and Pb from fish were 0.9, 1.6 and 0.9%, respectively, as compared with the Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWl) established by Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee for food safety evaluation.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.538-544
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• 1985

This study was carried cut to evaluate the water quality of spring waters in Pusan area(see Fig. 1). In this experiment, twenty-five water samples were collected from 5 stations from December 1983 to August 1984. Range and mean values of constituents of the samples are as follows: pH $5.80{\sim}7.25$, 6.60; water temperature $6.0{\sim}23.0^{\circ}C,\;12.9^{\circ}C$; total residue $33.0{\sim}325mg/l$, 121.2mg/l; alkalinity $4.75{\sim}51.6mg/l$, 24.1mg/l; hardness $9.47{\sim}85.0mg/l$, 30.3mg/l; electrical conductivity $0.495{\sim}2.750{\times}^2{mu}{\mho}/cm,\;1.239{\times}10^2{\mu}{\mho}/cm$;turbidity $0.54{\sim}7.80$NTU, 2.04NTU; $KMnO_4$ consumed $0.51{\sim}8.47mg/l$, 1.96mg/l; chloride ion $4.91{\sim}36.0mg/l$, 12.55mg/l; fluoride ion ND-0.30ppm, 0.08ppm; nitrate-nitrogen ND-8.94mg/l, 1.94m:g/l; nitrite-nirogen ND-0.10mg/l, 0.03mg/l; ammonia-nitrogen ND-0.16mg/l, 0.03mg/l: phosphate-phosphorus ND-0.09mg/l, 0.03mg/l; silicate-silicious $0.42{\sim}22.7ng/l$, 7.96mg/l; copper ND-10.5ppb, 2.46ppb; lead ND-22.7ppb, 3.54ppb; zinc ND-103ppb, 21.33ppb; iron $20.3{\sim}2,800ppb$, 801.72ppb, respectively. Arsenic, cyan, cadmium, manganese, mercury, chrome and phenol were not detected. Total residue, electrical conductivity, turbidity and chloride ion of station 1 (Milrakdong) were higher than others as 178.1mg/l, $2.127{\times}10^2{\mu}{\mho}/cm$, 3.16NTU and 16.32mg/l. The concentration of silicious had a great influence on precipitation. The concentration of fluoride ion of spring waters was lower as 0.08ppm than the criterion for drinking water as 1ppm, while iron was exceed 2.7 times as 801.72ppb.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.24-29
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• 2010

This study was conducted to estimate the contents of heavy metals including lead, cadmium, arsenic and total mercury in alcoholic beverages in Korea. Concentration of Hg was analyzed by gold amalgamation method, using mercury analyzer, while concentration of Pb, Cd and As was analyzed by ICP-MS. Concentration (${\mu}g/kg$) of heavy metal in fermented liquors were; for Pb $9.9\;{\pm}\;8.4$(0~38.0), Cd $5.8\;{\pm}\;4.9$(0~5.4), As $28.6\;{\pm}\;19.4$(1~96.4), Hg $0.7\;{\pm}\;1.2$(0~10.6). Concentration (${\mu}g/kg$) of distilled liquors were ; for Pb $4.4\;{\pm}\;5.7$(0~29.3), Cd $2.0\;{\pm}\;2.5$(0~10.3), As $12.0\;{\pm}\;17.0$(0~95.6), Hg $0.2\;{\pm}\;0.3$(0~2.3). Concentration(${\mu}g/kg$ of other liquous were ; for Pb $7.5\;{\pm}\;5.1$(0~13.7), Cd $5.8\;{\pm}\;3.9$(0.6~11.2), As $25.2\;{\pm}\;39.0$(0.5~103.3), Hg $0.3\;{\pm}\;0.1$(0.1~0.5). The present study showed that difference of the amount of constituent in a same category of food are not affect to the content of heavy metals among them. The residual levels of takju, yakju, sake, beer, fruit wine, soju, whiskey, brandy, general distilled liquor, liquor, other liquors are within the maximum levels, prescribed by Korea food code. It is given that heavy metal exposure of Pb, Cd, As, Hg from consumption of alcoholic beverages (takju, yakju, sake, beer, fruit wine, soju, whiskey, brandy, general distilled liquor, liquor, other liquors) are less than 0.03%, 0.06%, 0.01%, 0.01% (mean) in provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) respectively, indicated by FAO/WHO.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2012

BACKGROUND: Many edible mushrooms are known to accumulate high levels of heavy metals. This research was focused on health risk assessment to investigate the mushrooms in Korea, arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) contaminations in edible mushrooms in cultivated areas were investigated, and health risk was assessed through dietary intake of mushrooms. METHODS AND RESULTS: The heavy metals in mushrooms were analyzed by ICP/MS after acid digestion. Probabilistic health risk were estimated by Monte-Carlo simulation techniques. The average contents of As, Cd, Pb, and Hg were $0.035{\pm}0.042$ mg/kg, $0.017{\pm}0.020$ mg/kg, $0.043{\pm}0.013$ mg/kg, and $0.004{\pm}0.004$ mg/kg, respectively. The results showed that contents of Cd and Pb did not exceed maximum residual levels established by European Uion regulation (Cd 0.20 mg/kg and Pb 0.30 mg/kg). For health risk assessment, estimated intakes in all age populations did not exceed the provisional tolerable daily intake of As and Hg, provisional tolerable monthly intake of Cd, provisional tolerable weekly intake of Pb. The Hazard Index (HI) were ranged from $0.03{\times}10^{-4}{\sim}0.01{\times}10^{-3}$ for As, $0.02{\times}10^{-3}{\sim}0.81{\times}10^{-3}$ for Cd, $0.06{\times}10^{-3}{\sim}0.38{\times}10^{-3}$ for Pb, and $0.08{\times}10^{-4}{\sim}0.14{\times}10^{-3}$ for Hg at general population. CONCLUSION: The HI from the ratio analysis between daily exposure and safety level values was less than 1.0. This results demonstrated that human exposure to heavy metals through dietary intake of mushrooms might not cause adverse effect.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.39 no.12
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• pp.1873-1879
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• 2010

This study was conducted to estimate the heavy metal contents of vegetables available on the markets in Seoul area. Concentrations of mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), chrome (Cr), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) were measured in 300 samples using a mercury analyzer and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) after wet digestion. The average values of heavy metals in vegetables were as follows [mean (minimum~maximum), mg/kg]; Hg: 0.0005 (N.D~0.007), Pb: 0.011 (N.D~0.259), Cd: 0.012 (N.D~0.188), As: 0.002 (N.D~0.142), Cr: 0.100 (0.019~0.954), Ni: 0.093 (0.003~1.231), Cu: 1.098 (0.072~36.29), and Zn: 3.48 (0.485~21.31). The heavy metal contents of vegetables available on the markets in Seoul were almost the same as or lower than those reported in other studies. The weekly average intakes of mercury, lead and cadmium from vegetables take 0.44~7.71% of PTWI (Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intakes) that the FAO/WHO Joint Food Additive and Contaminants Committee sets for evaluation of food safety.