• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.56-64
• /
• 2013

After the law has been enacted for the prevention and recovery of mining damage in 2005, efforts of remediation have been started to recover heavy metal contaminated soils in agricultural land near mining sites. As part of an effort, the upper part of cultivation layer has been treated through covering up with clean soil, but the heavy metal contamination could be still spreaded to the surrounding areas because heavy metals may be remained in the lower part of cultivation layers. In this study, the most frequently occurring arsenic (As) contamination was selected to study in agricultural land nearby an abandoned metal mining site. We applied separation technologies considering the differences in the physical characteristics of soil particles (particle size, density, magnetic properties, hydrophobicity, etc.). Based on physical and chemical properties of arsenic (As) containing particles in agricultural lands nearby mining sites, we applied sieve separation, specific gravity separation, magnetic separation, and flotation separation to remove arsenic (As)-containing particles in the contaminated soil. Results of this study show that the removal efficiency of arsenic (As) were higher in the order of the magnetic separation, flotation separation, specific gravity separation and sieve separation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
• /
• 2008.10a
• /
• pp.1463-1474
• /
• 2008

In order to investigate stabilization effect and sustainability on As-contaminated farmland soils which were affected the abandoned mine site and stabilized by zerovalent iron(ZVI) and industrial by-products, batch-scale and pilot-scale tests were carried out. In batch tests, ZVI and industrial by-products(blast furnace slag, steel refining slag and oyster shell powder) were used in treatment materials to reduce the As leaching. Industrial by-products were mixed with As-contaminated soils, in the ratio of 1%, 3%, 5% and 7% on the weight base of dried soil. The results of batch-scale tests was shown that the reduction of As concentration was observed in all samples and it was expected that ZVI and steel refining slag were more effective than other treatment materials to stabilize As compounds. In pilot-scale tests, columns were filled with untreated soils and treated soils mixed with ZVI and steel refining slag in the same mixing ratio of 3%. Distilled water was discharged into the columns with the velocity of 0.3 pore volume/day. During the test, pH, EC, Eh and As concentration were measured in the regular term(1pore volume). after six months, pilot-scale tests were retested to investigate sustainability of treatment materials. As a result, It was shown that the leachate from control column was continuously released during the test period and its concentration was greater than $100ug{\cdot}L^{-1}$ which was exceeded the national regulation of water discharged to river or stream ($50ug{\cdot}L^{-1}$). On the other hand, soil treated with ZVI and steel refining slag showed that the concentrations of leachate were lower than national regulation of water discharged to river or stream. Therefore it was expected that ZVI and steel refining slag could be applied to the farmland site as the alternative treatment materials.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.104-111
• /
• 2004

Several tests were conducted to optimize design parameters of soil washing technique for arsenic contaminated tailings and soils. Arsenic contaminated tailings and soils have been sampled from the N nine, Kwangwondo and the K mine, Kyungsangbukdo, respectively. According to the result of sequential extraction procedure, total arsenic concentrations were 21,028 $\pm$ 190, 443$\pm$7, and 37$\pm$3 mg/kg, for mine tailings, dry field, and river sedimentary soil, respectively. The subtotal of weakly bonded and easily releasable arsenic concentrations which were 2,284$\pm$100 (10.9%), 151$\pm$5 (34.0%), 15$\pm$3 (39.5%)mg/kg for mine tailings, dry field, and river sedimentary soil, respectively. Kinetics of arsenic extraction using NaOH showed that arsenic was extracted more than 90% after 6 hours for all samples. The optimized concentration of NaOH were 200 mM for all samples while the optimized dilution ratio were different to have 1:10 (mine tailings) and 1:5 (dry field, river sedimentary soil), respectively. Results of sequential soil washing tests using NaOH showed that arsenic concentrations obtained by Korean Standard Test Procedure were decreased to meet the regulation for both river sedimentary soil and dry field while they were not decreased largely for mine tailings, even though NaOH had much higher efficiencies of arsenic extraction than other extractants.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
• /
• v.45 no.3
• /
• pp.152-156
• /
• 2002

Soils near abandoned zinc mines were known to be contaminated with arsenic-rich mining by-products. To examine the potential impacts of arsenic- contaminated soils on plant growth, surface soils were subjected to sequential extraction. Results revealed that 54% and 74% total As and 74% total extractable As were bound to iron hydrous oxide, and water soluble fraction was below detection limit. Arsenic faction extracted using the Koran standard method(dissolution of metals via treatment of 1 N HCI) was strongly correlated with the Fe-bound As fraction ($r^2=0.884**$). Arsenic level in rice plant roots was the highest with a maximum value of 154.9 mg/kg, whereas it was below 0.6 mg/kg in grains. Arsenic level in rice plant roots was strongly correlated with those of Al-bound As ($r^2=0.821**$) and 1N HCI-extractable As levels ($r^2=0.801**$).

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.111-120
• /
• 2016

BACKGROUND: Arsenic (As)-contaminated groundwater used for long-term irrigation has emerged as a serious problem by adding As to soils. Phytoremediation potential of fiber crops viz., kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.), mesta (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.), and jute (Corchorus capsularis L.) was studied to clean up As-contaminated soil.METHODS AND RESULTS: Varieties of three fiber crops were selected in this study. Seeds of kenaf, mesta, and jute varieties were germinated in As-contaminated soil. Uptake of As by shoot was significantly higher than that by root in the contaminated soil. In As-contaminated soil, kenaf and mesta varieties accumulated more As, than did jute varieties. In the plant parts above ground, mainly the shoots, the highest As absorption was recorded in kenaf cv. HC-3, followed by kenaf cv. HC-95. Kenaf varieties produced more biomass. In terms of higher plant biomass production, and As absorption, kenaf varieties showed considerable potential to remediate As-contaminated soil.CONCLUSION: The overall As absorption and phytoremediation potentiality of plant varieties were in the order of kenaf cv. HC-3 > kenaf cv. HC-95 > mesta cv. Samu-93 > jute cv. CVE-3 > jute cv. BJC-7370. All varieties of kenaf, mesta, and jute could be considered for an appropriate green plant-based remediation technology in As-contaminated soil.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.17-22
• /
• 2019

BACKGROUND: Soil contamination of As is a very sensitive environmental issue due to its adverse impact on human health and different characteristics with other heavy metals. With public awareness of As poisoning, there has been growing interest in developing guideline and remediation technologies for As-contaminated soil. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of stabilizing amendments and soil dressing methods on the mobility of As in the contaminated rice paddy soils nearby mining area. METHODS AND RESULTS: Different amendments were mixed with surface and subsurface contaminated soils at a ratio of 3% (w/w) and monitored for five months. Three different extractants including 0.01M $CaCl_2$, TCLP, and PBET were used to examine As bioavailability in the soil and the concentration of As in rice grain was also measured with an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectroscopy. The results showed that all amendment treatments decreased As concentration compared to the control. Especially, coal mine drainage sludge (CMDS) treatment showed the highest efficiency of decreasing As concentration in the soil and rice grain. The values of Pearson correlation (r) between As concentrations in the soil and rice grain were 0.782, 0.753, and 0.678 for $CaCl_2$, TCLP, and PBET methods, respectively. Especially, $CaCl_2$ method was highly correlated between As concentrations of the soil and soil solution (r=0.719), followed by TCLP (r=0.706), PBET (r=0.561) methods. CONCLUSION: Stabilizing amendments can effectively reduce available As concentration in the soils as well as soil solution, and thereby potentially mitigating risks of crop contamination by As.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.8-16
• /
• 2021

This study has evaluated the stabilization of As contaminated paddy and cultivated soils by pot experiments for rice and lettuce. Various ratios of limestone (L) and steel slag (S) were mixed with the soils in each pot. The soils were taken from before and after pot experiments, and analyzed for As extracted by sequentially (Wenzel method) and totally (aqua regia method).. Paddy soils amended with L (0.5%) and L (1.0%) + S (1.0%) showed increasing fraction 2 (specifically bound As) compared with control soil. Arsenic concentrations in rice grain grown on the amended soils decreased 14% and 12% compared with those on the control soil, respectively. According to sequential extraction of As in cultivated soils, the fractions 1~3 were decreased due to stabilization of As by the soil amendment, especially for S (1.0%), S (3.0%) and L (1.0%) + S (1.0%). In addition, relatively low As concentrations were found in lettuce grown on amended soils with L (0.5%) and L (1.0%) + S (1.0%). Therefore, it can be suggested that soil amendments with L (0.5%) or L (1.0%) + S (1.0%) were suitable for enhancing stabilization of As in the study area.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.58-64
• /
• 2005

Several tests were conducted to determine the optimum operational conditions of soil washing techniques for floe-forming arsenic-contaminated soils, collected from D abandoned Iron-mine in Korea. The optimum cut-off size was 0.15 mm $(sieve\;\#100)$, about $94\%$ of the mass of soils. Both sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid were effective to remove arsenic and the optimum mixing ratio (soil [g] : washing solution [mL]) was 1:5 for both washing agents. Arsenic concentrations, determined by KST Methods, for the dried floe solids obtained from flocculation at pH 5-6 were $990\~1,086\;mg/kg$ dry solids, which were higher concentrations than at the other pH values. Therefore, batch tests for sequential washings with or without removing floc were conducted to find the enhancement of washing efficiencies. After removing floe with 0.2 M HCl, sequential washings of 1 M HCl followed by 1 M NaOH showed the best results (15 mg/kg dry soil). The arsenic concentrations of washing effluent from each washing step were about $2\~3\;mg/L$. However, when these acidic and basic effluents were mixed together, arsenic concentration was decreased to be less than $50\;{\mu}g/L$, due to the pH condition of coagulation followed by precipitation for arsenic removal.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.419-428
• /
• 2011

Recycling as a stabilizer of industrial by-product can be terms of the proper handling of industrial by-product and positive side in terms of recycling of waste. This study was performed to evaluate has the possibility as stabilizer by primary processing Pre-Red Mud and Bio-Solids which are generated as waste in soils contaminated with heavy metals and compared the efficiency with steel slug being applied in an existing site. In evaluation of the arsenic-fixing ability of stabilizer in batch test, Bio-Solids have the similar arsenic-fixing ability with Pre-Red Mud, which shows 17% h igher arsenic-fixing ability than PS Ball. Since the stabilization periods using Bio-Solids and Pre-Red Mud are faster than the PS Ball, they seems to be better stabilizer than PS Ball to decrease the leaching of arsenic in contaiminated soil.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2022

This study assessed the feasibility of iron oxide nanoparticles impregnated with biochar (INPBC), derived from woody biomass, as a stabilizing agent for the stabilization of farmland soil in the vicinity of an abandoned mine through pot experiments with 28 days of lettuce growth. The lettuce grown in the INPBC amended soils increased by more than 100% and the concentrations of inorganic elements (Cu, Ni, Zn) decreased by more than 40%. As, Cd and Pb were not transferred properly from the soils to the lettuce biomass. The bioavailability of arsenic and heavy metals in the INPBC amended soils were decreased by 26%~50%. It seems that the major mechanisms of stabilization were arsenic adsorption on iron oxides, heavy metal precipitation by soil pH increasing and heavy metal adsorption on organic matter. These results revealed that the lower bioavailability of the inorganic pollutants in the soils stabilized using INPBC induced lower transfer to the lettuce. Thus, INPBC could be used as an amendment material for the stabilization of farmland soils contaminated by arsenic and heavy metals. However, a pre-review of the chemical properties of the amended soil must be performed prior to applying INPBC in farmland soil because the concentration of the nutrients in the soil such as available phosphates and exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, K) could be decreased due to adsorption on the surface of the iron oxides and organic matter.