• Title/Summary/Keyword: Heavy Metal Contamination

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The impact of municipal waste disposal of heavy metals on environmental pollution: A case study for Tonekabon, Iran

  • Azizpour, Aziz;Azarafza, Mohammad;Akgun, Haluk
    • Advances in environmental research
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    • v.9 no.3
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    • pp.175-189
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    • 2020
  • Municipal solid waste disposal is considered as one of the most important risks for environmental contamination which necessitates the development of strategies to reduce destructive consequences on the ecosystem as related especially to heavy metal accumulation. This study investigates heavy metal (i.e., As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn) accumulation in the Tonekabon region, NW of Iran that is related to city waste disposal and evaluates the environmental impact in the Caspian Sea coastal region. For this purpose, after performing field studies and collecting 50 soil specimens from 5 sites of the study area, geochemical tests (i.e., inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, atomic absorption spectroscopy and x-ray fluorescence) were conducted on the soil specimens collected from the 5 sites (named as Sites A1, A2, A3, A4 and A5) and the results were used to estimate the pollution indices (i.e., geo-accumulation index, normalized enrichment factor, contamination factor, and pollution load index). The obtained indices were utilized to assess the eco-toxicological risk level in the landfill site which indicated that the city has been severely contaminated by Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn. These levels have been developed along the stream towards the nearshore areas indicating uptake of soil degradation. The heavy metal contamination was classified to range from unpolluted to highly polluted, which indicated serious heavy metal pollution in the study area as related to municipal solid waste disposal in Tonekabon.

Long-term Characteristics of Heavy Metal Contamination in Highway Roadside Soil and Sediment (고속도로변 토양과 퇴적물의 중금속 장기 오염 특성)

  • Lee, Eui-Sang;Lee, Ju-Goang
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.8 no.2
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    • pp.385-394
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    • 2007
  • To study long-term characteristics of the heavy metal contamination, soil and sediment samples were collected at 14 sites in highway roadside during 6 years. The total concentrations of metals including Zn, Ni, Cu. Pb, Cr, Cd, and As in those samples were investigated. The results indicate that concentrations of Zn, Ni, and Cu in highway roadside soils are much higher than the metal concentrations in background soils and appear to be increased gradually. Strong linear relationships between the cumulative traffic and the contents of the metals in highway roadside soils were obtained. Therefore, they might be used to predict the heavy metal concentrations in the future highway roadside soils for establishing the countermeasure of soil and sediment contamination.

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Heavy Metal Concentrations in Soils and Crops in the Poongwon Mine Area (풍원광산 지역의 토양 및 농작물 중금속 오염)

  • Kim, Jakwan
    • Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.5-11
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    • 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.

A Study on the heavy metal contents in the soils and vegetables (중금속에 의한 토양오염과 그 작물함량에 관한 연구)

  • 김명미;고영수
    • Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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    • v.1 no.1
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    • pp.51-56
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    • 1986
  • In the particular area the heavy metal concentrations in the soil were determined and compared to the contents in vegetables which were grown on the soil. Simultaneously the degree of contamination was examined. Samples were collected from Chinese cabbage, radish and Altari-mu, together with the soil on which the three kinds of vegetables have grown. The sites of samples collection were Jinguan-sa(non-polluted area) and Sangaedong(polluted area). The contents of cadimium, copper, lead and zinc were determined by means of atomic absorption spectro-photometer. The results obtained were as follows; 1. In soils, the average contents of heavy metal in Jinguan-sa area (Cd; 0.15ppm, Cu; 0.15ppm, Zn; 11.5ppm) were lower than those in sangye-dong(Cd; 0.26ppm, Cu; 13.0ppm, Zn; 17.1ppm). 2. In vegetables, the average have metal contents in Jinguan-sa were cadmium; 0.11ppm, copper; 5.29ppm, zinc; 18.75ppm and the average contents in Sangye-dong were cadmium; 0.16ppm, copper; 6.64ppm, lead; 0.14ppm, zinc; 15.01ppm. 3. The contents of lead showed zero ppm in Jinguan-sa area(soil and vegetables). In vegetables difference in concentration of heavy metals was not observed between reclaimed area and non reclaimed area. Statistical analysis showed that no correlation in the heavy metal concentrations between those in soils and in vegetables.

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Heavy Metals in Sediments and Burrowing Bivalves (Sinonovacula constricta Lamarck) from Tidal Flats along the Saemankeum Area, Korea (새만금지역 갯벌 환경(패류, 저질)에서의 중금속 분포특성)

  • Hwang, Gab-Soo;Shin, Hyung-Seon;Kim, Kangjoo;Yeo, Sung-Koo;Park, Seongmin;Lim, Kyujae
    • Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.341-354
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    • 2002
  • Heavy metal concentration/distribution in sediments and bivalves from the tidal flats in Saemankeum coastal area, western Korea, were investigated, Among 6 sampling sites, S2, S5 and S6 showed the higher levels of Zn, Cr, Ni, Cu and Cd contamination and S1 did the higher level of Pb contamination than other sites, while S-4 showed the lowest levels of these metal contamination. Overally, the levels of Zn, Cu and Pb concentrations in Sinonovacula constricta were estimated to be relatively high. The shell lengths of the collected mussels were linearly related to their dry weights of the whole soft parts, but the mussels collected from S3 were in a poor nutrition, resulting in the distinctively high levels of metal concentrations in the body. It was shown that in S. constricta, Cr, Ni, Cu and Zn are distributed equally into the whole soft parts or a little more into the flesh, after absorption, while Fe, Cd, Pb and Mn are transferred more into the non-flesh parts than into the flesh parts. In S. constricta, the heavy metal concentrations in the flesh increase with those in the whole soft parts. The bioaccumulation factors(heavy metal concentration in S. constricta/heavy metal concentration in sediment) showed that, of the examined metals, Cd is the most cumulative in the body of S. constricta, followed by Zn and Cu, while Mn, Cr, Ni and Pb are not cumulative.

Evaluation of Heavy Metal Contamination in Streams within Samsanjeil and Sambong Cu Mining Area (삼산제일.삼봉 동광산 주변 수계의 중금속 오염도 평가)

  • Kim, Soon-Oh;Jung, Young-Il;Cho, Hyen-Goo
    • Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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    • v.19 no.3 s.49
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    • pp.171-187
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    • 2006
  • The status of heavy metal contamination was investigated using chemical analyses of stream waters and sediments obtained from Samsanjeil and Sambong Cu mining area in Goseong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do. In addition, the degree and the environmental risk of heavy metal contamination in stream sediments was assessed through pollution index (Pl) and danger index (DI) based on total digestion by aqua regia and fractionation of heavy metal contaminants by sequential extraction, respectively. Not only the degree of heavy metal contamination was significantly higher in Samsanjeil area than in Sambong area, but its environmental risk was also revealed much more serious in Samsanjeil area than in Sambong area. The differences in status and level of contamination and environmental risk between both two mining areas may be attributed to existence of contamination source and geology. Acid mine drainage is continuously discharged and flows into the stream in Samsanjeil mining area, and it makes the heavy metal contamination in the stream more deteriorated than in Sambong mining area in which acid mine drainage is not produced. In addition, the geology of Samsanjeil mining area is mainly comprised of andesitic rocks including a small amount of calcite and having lower pH buffering capacity fer acid mine drainage, and it is likely that the heavy metal contamination cannot be naturally attenuated in streams. On the contrary, the main geology of Sambong mining area consists of pyroclastic sedimentary Goseong formation containing a high content of carbonates, particularly calcite, and it seems that these carbonates of high pH buffering capacity prevent the heavy metal contamination from proceeding downstream in stream within that area.

Heavy metals and pollution index of agricultural soils around industrial complexes in the Jeon-Buk regions of Korea

  • Suwanmanon, Sorakon;Kim, Ki In
    • Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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    • v.46 no.4
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    • pp.799-811
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    • 2019
  • The aim of this study was to evaluate heavy metal contamination and pollution index of agricultural soils around industrial complexes in the Jeon-Buk Regions of Korea. Soil samples near industrial complexes in 2017 were collected at two depths (0 - 15 and 15 - 30 cm) within a 500- and 1000-meter radius before planting. Eight heavy metals (Arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), Cupper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg) and zinc (Zn)) and the pollution index (PI), geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and soil pollution index (SPI) were evaluated based on soil contamination warning standard (SCWS). Overall, the heavy metal concentrations were below the SCWS. The PI ranged from 0.1 to 0.9 and categorized into Group 1 which is not polluted with any heavy metals. The average Igeo values of all the soil samples ranged from - 2.56 to 3.22. The Igeo values of Cd and Hg may not represent well the pollution index because the heavy metal concentrations in the soil is lower compared to the SCWS. In fact, based on the heavy metal concentrations, the Igeo for monitored soils should be categorized into Group 1, uncontaminated to moderately contaminated. However, the Igeo of Cd and Hg are classified into heavily contaminated. These results suggest that for calculating the Igeo, the heavy metal concentration and background concentration should be used very carefully if the heavy metal concentration in the soil is lower than the background concentration. SPI for all the soil samples ranged from 0.00 to 0.11 which indicates no heavy metal pollution was observed.

Investigation of Pollution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Heavy Metals in Soil near Railway Rails (철도레일 부근 토양의 다환방향족 탄화수소 및 중금속 오염도 조사)

  • Choi, Hyun-Kyung;Yoon, In-Ju;Shin, Tae-Cheon;Kim, Young-Hun
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.27 no.11
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    • pp.947-956
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    • 2018
  • Trains have been a major means of transport in Korea during these past decades. However, train facilities such as stations and repair shops are contaminated with organic and inorganic substances. There is a high probability of train facility contamination with polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This study evaluated the PAH and heavy metal contamination of soil near railroads in the Kyungpook area. A total of 18 soil samples were collected from the railroads and analyzed for 16 PAHs and 6 heavy metal species. The contamination level of the top soil was found to be slightly higher than that of the subsoil for contamination with PAHs. The ratio of carcinogenic PAH concentration to the total PAH concentration was relatively high, with a maximum of 0.9. The toxicity equivalent (TEQ) of the PAHs were 500.6 ng/kg in the topsoil and 355.5 ng/kg in the subsoil. The ratio of low molecular PAHs (LPAHs) to high molecular PAHs (LPAHs) ranged from 6.7 to 29.5; this shows that contamination is primarily due to combustion of fuel rather than due to petroleum. The ratio of phenanthrene to anthracene and the ratio of fluoranthene to pyrene also show that contamination occurred due to combustion for transportation. The heavy metal contamination level was lower than the Korean standard, but higher than the background concentration; this indicates that the soil was affected by the operation of the railways.

Heavy Metal Characteristics of Fish in Watersheds of the Upper Region of the Nakdong River (낙동강 상류 유역별 서식 어류의 중금속 특성)

  • Kwon, Hee Won;Kim, Young Hun;Kim, Jeong Jin
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.31 no.2
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    • pp.103-116
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    • 2022
  • Heavy metal contaminations were investigated in fishes inhabiting the basins of Andong, Imha and Yeongju dam basins along the upper stream of the Nakdong river. The characteristics of heavy metals contamination in fish were investigated based on sampling sites located in the Andong dam basin. The muscle tissue was analyzed for 267 objects of 26 species from the Andong dam, 50 objects of 17 species from Imha dam, 38 objects of 9 species fromYoungju dam basin.The type and amount of heavy metals concentrated in the body of the fishes was found to be species-dependent. The heavy metal species which contamination increase through the Seokpo smelter are chromium, zinc, cadmium, and lead, and these are very likely the influence of the smelter. The concentration of eight heavy metals in fish from the Andong dam basin was higher than that in fish from the Imha and Youngju dam basins; the values for zinc, arsenic, and cadmium were significantly higher. However, mercury and lead exhibited high values in the Imha and Yeongju dam basins, respectively.

Contamination of Heavy Metals from Dongmyeong Au-Ag Mine Area (동명 금-은 광산 주변의 중금속 오염)

  • 이광춘;김세현;이승호;서용찬
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.36 no.1
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    • pp.17-25
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    • 2003
  • Researches were carried out to investigate the characteristics and concentration of heavy metal elements of stream water through Dongmyoung abandoned metal mine and soil adjacent to the mine. The pH range of water was 5.9∼7.1 that implies the water environment was acidic to neutral. The contents and distribution aspects of heavy metals in water samples varied with geochemical characteristics of element, but the concentration of heavy metals has the tendency of increase closer to the mine in general. The results of soil analysis show that total heavy metal concentration of agricultural soil near mine was far lower than those of ore tailing and dumping site. Therefore, the effects of the abandoned mine on stream water and agricultural products were supposed to be insignificant, particularly because the portion of absorbed carbonates and reducible fractions among total heavy metal concentration was relatively lower than the other. Since, however total heavy metal concentrations of mining site were relatively higher than those of adjacent region, there is a possibility of heavy metal difussion when the chemical environment of the site changes due to migration of surface and underground water. It is suggested that the preventive measures for water and soil pollution by the heavy metals would be considered around the region.