• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.137-146
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• 2018

Soil washing is one of the most frequently used remediation technologies for heavy metal-contaminated soils. Inorganic and organic acids and chelating agents that can enhance the removal of heavy metals from contaminated soils have been employed as soil washing agents. However, the toxicity, low removal efficiency and high cost of these chemicals limit their use. Given that humic substance (HS) can effectively chelate heavy metals, the development of an eco-friendly, performance-efficient and cost-effective soil washing agent using a nano-scale chelator composed of HS was examined in this study. Copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) were selected as target heavy metals. In soil washing experiments, HS concentration, pH, soil:washing solution ratio and extraction time were evaluated with regard to washing efficiency and the chelation effect. The highest removal rates by soil washing (69% for Cu and 56% for Pb) were achieved at an HS concentration of 1,000 mg/L and soil:washing solution ratio of 1:25. Washing with HS was found to be effective when the pH value was higher than 8, which can be attributed to the increased chelation effect between HS and heavy metals at the high pH range. In contrast, the washing efficiency decreased markedly in the low pH range due to HS precipitation. The chelation capacities for Cu and Pb in the aqueous phase were determined to be 0.547mmol-Cu/g-HS and 0.192mmol-Pb/g-HS, respectively.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.17-26
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• 2014

In this study, the adsorption efficiency of mixed heavy metals from an aqueous solution was examined using bentonite. The physical and chemical properties of bentonite was analyzed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Further, heavy metal adsorption was characterized using Freundlich and Langmuir equations. Equilibrium adsorption data were fitted well to the Langmuir model for bentonite. The adsorption uptake of heavy metals was high and followed the order $Pb^{2+}$ > $Cu^{2+}$ > $Cd^{2+}$ > $$Zn^{2+}{\sim_=}Ni^{2+}$$. The results also showed that adsorption uptake slightly increased as increasing pH from 6 to 10. The bentonite surface was observed viay SEM and FT-IR; Si-O and Si-O-Al were found to be the main functional groups by FT-IR analysis. From these results, the adsorption mechanisms of heavy metal were not only surface adsorption and ion exchange, but also surface precipitation. Thus, bentonite could be a useful adsorbent for treating heavy metal in aqueous solution.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.57-63
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• 1986

Atmospheric particulate matter (A.P.M.) was collected on quartz fiber filters from March 1985 to May 1986 according to particle size using Andersen high-volume air sampler, and 6 heavy metals (Fe, Mn, Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb) in these particulates were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The arithmetic mean concentration of A.P.M. was 195.57$\mug/m^3$. The arithmetic mean concentrations of 6 metals (Fe, Mn, Cu, Ni, Zn and Pb) were 3385.04, 1451.67, 897.94, 159.68, 127.14 and 59.49 $ng/m^3$ respectively. The order of heavy metals contributing to A.P.M. was as follows: Fe > Zn > Pb > Cu > Mn > Ni. These heavy metals were devided into 3 groups according to their particle size distribution. The contents of heavy metals belonging to the 1st group (Fe, Mn) were increased with the particle size. On the contrary, the content of Pb belonging to the 2nd group (Pb) was increased with the decrease in the particle size. The heavy metal contents in the 3rd group (Ni, Cu, Zn) were lowest in the particle size range of 2.0-3.3 $\mum$ compared with particles larger or smaller tha this range. The seasonal variation of heavy metal concentration were as follows: Fe and Mn contents were highest in spring, but Ni and Pb contents were highest in winter. Statistical analysis showed that there was a significant correlation between A.P.M. and Fe in coarse particles, meanwhile between A.P.M. and Pb in the case of fine particles.

• Journal of Plant Biology
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.55-60
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• 1980

The quantity of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) contained in marine algae collected in Onsan-myon on the east coast of Korea from March to December 1978 was determined as a part of the environmental base line survey of the Onsan Industrial Base. In general, green algae have a higher Cu content than either brown or red algae, and brown algae have higher As and lower Cu contents, while red algae have a higher Zn content. Significant differences between algal species in either Cd or Pb content were however not found.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.2 s.171
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• pp.135-142
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• 2005

In order to investigate the contamination level and seasonal variation of heavy metals and evaluate the bioavailability of toxic elements, environmental geochemical survey was undertaken at the Dogok Au-Ag-Cu mine area. The main pollution sources in the area were suggested as tailings, mine waste materials and mine water. Elevated levels of $140{\cal}mg/{\cal}kg{\;}As,{\;}107{\cal}mg/{\cal}kg{\;}Cd,{\;} 3017{\cal}mg/{\cal}kg{\;}Cu,{\;}12926{\cal}mg/{\cal}kg{\;}Pb,{\;}9094{\cal}mg/{\cal}kg$ Zn(before rainy season) were found in mine tailings. Concentrations of heavy metals in farmland soils exceeded normal level in nature soil (Bowen, 1979). The highest level of heavy metals was found in water samples near the mine tailing dumps regarded as a main pollution source of toxic elements in the area. These concentrations decreased to downstream due to the effect of dilution. From the results of sequential extraction analyses for tailings and soils, non-residual forms of heavy metals were found, which indicate the contamination to be progressing by continuing weathering and oxidation. Cadmium and Zn would be of the highest mobility in all samples. The bioavailability of Cd, Cu, Zn and As using SBET analysis from paddy soils was $53.3{\%},{\;}46.5{\%},{\;}41.0{\%}$ and $37.0\%$, respectively. The farmland soil sample(S3) showed the highest total concentration and bioavailability of heavy metals.

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.177-180
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• 2001

Tobacco plants were transformed by A. tumefaciens harboring human ferritin gene and they were subjected to investigate for the expression of transformed gene as well as heavy metal accumulation. Seed from self-fertilized transgenic plants was germinated on media containing toxic level of Cd, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn and scored for tolerance to this heavy metals. There is difference in growth rate between transgenic and control plants, especially Cd, Cu. And transgenic plants accumulated more heavy metals than control plants.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2002.04a
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• pp.271-274
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• 2002

Heavy metal concentrations of roadside soils around interchanges were found to decrease as Zn)Cu>Pb and be lower than the legal guideline levels. The concentrations of Cu, Pb and Zn in roadside soils around Kyeong-bu highway interchanges were 1.3 to 1.5 times higher those around Yeong-dong highway interchanges. Difference of heavy metal concentrations in soils seems to be caused by difference of traffic volume between Kyeong-bu and Yeong-dong highway interchanges. This means that contamination of interchange roadside soils mainly depends on traffic volume.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.85-93
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• 2013

This study is conducted to evaluate the leaching of contaminants from mine tailing by natural water and finally to estimate the leaching and transportation of heavy metal contaminants by rainfall. In order to identify contaminated heavy metal of soil, 17 soil, 2 tailing and 2 waste dump and 2 control samples were taken at mine area and analyzed total metal contents. The leaching experiments were conducted using distilled water. Cu, Pb, Zn was extracted from the reddish mine tailing in a short period time, especially the extraction rate of Cu (45.0%) was highest. The contaminants were leached from the yellowish mine tailing within an hour and the leaching rate of Cd (42.0%) and Zn (17.2%) were relatively high. The reddish soil from the waste dump showed leaching of Cu (5.1%), Pb (4.0%) and Zn (3.3%), however the leaching rate was low except Mi (14.2%). From the yellowish soil sampled from the dumping site, the leaching of Cu (8.2%) and Ni (9.7%) was high while the leaching of Zn (0.2%) were relatively low.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.380-383
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• 2004

Heavy metal release from wastewater is a serious environmental problem, and therefore, various wastewater treatment techniques have been developed. Among the techniques, sorption technique is most attractive. Considerable researches have been recently focused on finding out inexpensive sorbents, especially from various natural materials. In order to evaluate the applicability of the scoria taken from the Jeju Island, Korea to remove heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd) from aqueous solutions, equilibrium sorption experiments were conducted in this study. In equilibrium tests, powdered activated carbon (PAC), one of the most commonly used sorbents, was also tested to compare the effectiveness of the Jeju scoria with that of PAC. The Jeju scoria had larger adsorption capacity and affinity for metal ions (Pb(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II)) than PAC. The sorption parameters of the two sorbents were evaluated by using both the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms, and the sorption data were better fitted to the Freundlich isotherm. In addition, the sorption behavior of metal ions (Pb(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II)) onto the scoria displayed a typical characteristic of the cation sorption. The removal of metal ions decreased at a lower pH condition due to competition with hydrogen ions for the sorption sites of Jeju scoria, while the removal increased at a high pH condition due to hydroxide precipitation.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.349-354
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• 2012

To evaluate the biological response of sea squirt Halocynthia roretzi with different body size to heavy metals and its suitability for ecotoxicity assays, the effects of Cr, Cu and Zn on its clearance and oxygen consumption rates were investigated. Clearance and oxygen consumption rates of H. roretzi with various body sizes were calculated at different metal concentrations. Both clearance and oxygen consumption rate were negatively correlated with body sizes. Clearance rate of H. roretzi decreased gradually with increasing concentration of heavy metal, the decreasing rate was in an order of Cr>Cu>Zn. The oxygen consumption rate first increased at low metal concentration (below $100{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$) and then decreased rapidly with increasing metal concentrations. The decreasing rate was in an order of Cu>Cr=Zn. There was a trend that the clearance rate and oxygen consumption rate decreased drastically under a concentration of $400{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$, and then decreased smoothly when the metal ion concentration increased continually. So the oxygen consumption and clearance rate at a concentration of $400{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$ Cu could be thought as a suitable biological tool for exotoxicology analysis.