• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2006.04a
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• pp.131-137
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• 2006

This study was investigated the contents of heavy metals in plants at Dalcheun mine area, in order to offer basic data for phytoremedation on soil contamination by heavy metals. As the results of this study, the contents of Ni, As, Cd in plants were the highest at the west area of Dalcheun mine area. But the content of Zn was similar in all of Dalcheun mine area. For the herbaceous plants, the contents of heavy metals were higher in plants which were included in Gramineae and Compositae than any other families. And then the contents of Ni, Zn, Cd in root were higher $1.4{\sim}1.8$ times than stem, especially the content of As was higher 4 times. For the trees, the contents of heavy metals were usually high in Zanthoxylum piperitum, Pine tree, Chestnut tree, Quercus acutissima and Lindera obtusiloba. The contents of heavy metals with parts of tree were almost same range. All experimental result, we paid attention on two conclusions. First, the contents of heavy metals in herbs was higher than in trees. And second, if there were some spices that the content of heavy metal in leave were higher than in root, they could accumulate that kind of heavy metal. Therefore, It is above 2 times which the content of heavy metal in the leave is higher than in the root about herbs, that kind of plants was regarded as a accumulation species. According as the heavy metals, accumulation species were selected. We think that the accumulation species are able to absorb the heavy metals from the soil, they will make use of phytoremedation on contaminated soil by heavy metals.

• 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.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.324-332
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• 2001

Foods constitute a large portion of heavy metal exposure toward general population and attract a deep concern with respect to assuring human health. This study summarized published data in Korea on the content, and dietary intake of heavy metals and assessed their risk potential in comparison with foreign data. An analysis for the yearly fluctuation of metal contents including arsenic, cadmium, mercury and lead by flood group (marine fishes, coastal shellfishes, freshwater fishes, cereal grains) exhibited a decreasing trend from the 1970s to the 1990s. When compared with domestic standards of heavy metals, their mean contents were below the limit and their maximum values seldom exceeded the limit. The data on the dietary intake of heavy metals by Koreans showed a decreasing trend from the 1980s to the 1990s. The average intakes offs and Hg were 6∼8% and those of Cd and Pb were 50∼80% of PTWI(provisional tolerable weekly intake), all of which were below the tolerance. As the extreme intakes of these metals may exceed the PTWI, a careful assessment for them may be necessary. Dietary intakes of Cd, Hg and Pb by Koreans lie in the mid-level among countries cited in the GEMS/Food monitoring data. As fishery foods are suspecious of contamination with Hg, Cd and As, and floods in general are with Pb, it is necessary to establish legal limits for these metals and monitor any progress of their contamination. Furthermore, overall assessment of exposure to heavy metals from all sources including floods, air, drinking water and occupation should be made in order to confirm the dietary risk factors and to assure the safety of food resources.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.717-726
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• 2022

This study was conducted to assess the geochemical contamination degree of As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Sb, and Zn in the soil and water samples from an abandoned gold mine. Enrichment Factor (EF), Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo), and Pollution Load Index (PLI) were carried out to assess the geochemical contamination degree of the soil samples. Variations of sulfate and heavy metals concentration in water samples were determined to identify the geochemical distribution with respect to the distance from the mine tailing dam. Geochemical pollution indices indicated significant contaminated with As, Cd, Pb, and Zn in the soil samples that areas close to the mine tailing dam, while, Sb showed similar indices in all soil samples. These results indicated that the As, Cd, Pb, and Zn dispersion has occurred via anthropogenic sources, such as mining activities. In terms of water samples, anomalies in the concentrations of As, Cd, Zn, and SO₄^2- was determined at specific area, in addition, the concentrations of the elements gradually decreased with distance. This result implies the heavy metals distribution in water has carried out by the weathering of sulfide minerals in the mine tailing and soil. The study area has been conducted the remediation of contaminated soil in the past, however, the geochemical dispersion of heavy metals was supposed to be occurred from the potential contamination source. Therefore, continuous monitoring of the soil and water is necessary after the completion of remediation.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.249-255
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• 2013

Yam (Dioscorea) has long been used as foods and folk medicine with the approved positive effects for health promotion. Although consumption of yam products is increasing for health promotion, reports for the metal contamination in commercial yam powder products to protect the consumers are lacking. In this study, we aimed to assess whether the commercial yam powder products were heavy metal contaminated or not using the yam products from six commercial products from various places in South Korea. The contents of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, As, Pb, Ni, and Sn) in yam powder products were measured and compared to national and international food standard levels. Also, the metal contamination was monitored during the food manufacturing steps. The study results showed that the contents of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, As, and Pb) in yam powder products are similar to those in national 'roots and tubers' as well as in various crops. In comparison to three international standard levels (EU, Codex and Korea), Cd content in yam powder products was lower but Pb content was 5 times higher. Also, Pb, Ni, and Sn may have the potential to be contaminated during food manufacturing steps. In conclusion, the level of heavy metals (Cd, Cr, As, Ni, and Sn) except Pb is considered relatively safe on comparison to national and international food standard levels.

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

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.93-108
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• 2013

This study is aimed to prepare the effective detail survey methods(Phase II) of abandoned metal mines through the contamination assessment for mine types and facilities in the abandoned metal mine areas. The study sites of 12 abandoned mines are located in Gyeonggi-do and Gangwon-do and those were chosen among 310 sites that the Phase II survey was conducted from 2007 to 2009 after considering the results of Phase I for abandoned mines scattered all over the country. 12 study sites were classified into four types; Type I sites only have pit mouth. Type II sites have pit mouth and mine-waste field. Type III sites have pit mouth and tailing sorting field. Type IV sites have pit mouth, tailing sorting field and concentrator(s). In forest land, paddy soil and farm land of Type I, As and Cd were showed average concentration, and Cu and Pb were high on the pit mouth area in one mines where the pit mouth was developed within 500 m. In the mines of Type II, Cu and Pb were showed average concentration too, but As and Cd were slightly high in pit mouth and mine-waste field. The mines of Type III which had grinding particle process through physical separation milling or hitting showed similar tendency with Type II. However, mines of Type IV pit mouth, mine-waste field and showed various results depending on defining the contamination sources. For example, if contamination source was pit mouth, the mixed results of Type I, II, II were showed. In tailing sorting field which was regarded as the most important source and having high mobility, however, if there were no facilities or it was difficult to access directly, field sampling was missed occasionally during phase I and phase II survey. For that reason, the assessment for tailing sorting field is missed and it leads to completely different results. In the areas of Type I mines, the concentration of heavy metals exceeded precautionary standards of soil contamination or not within 1,000 meters of pit mouth. Nickel(Ni) was the largest factor of the heavy metal contamination in this type. The heavy metals except Arsenic(As) were shown high levels of concentration in Type II areas, where pit mouth and mine-waste field were operated for making powder in upriver region; therefore, to the areas in the vicinity of midstream and downstream, the high content of heavy metals were shown. The tendency of high level of heavy metals and toxic materials contained in flotation agent used during sorting process were found in soil around sorting and tailing field. In the abandoned-pit-mouth area, drygrinding area and tailing sorting field area, the content of Cupper(Cu) and Zinc(Zn) were higher than other areas. Also, the contaminated area were larger than mine reclamation area(2,000 m) and the location of tailing sorting field was one of the important factors to estimate contaminated area.

• 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.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.271-281
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• 2001

The characteristics of the heavy metal contamination in the soils affected by the tailings of the Palbong mine have been studied. The soils in the studied area consist mostly of loam by the particle size analysis, but a little of it, located near the stream, consist of loamy sand to sandy loam, finally to loam downward. The organic contents of soils are significantly low aoom 2 percent and the pH is in acidic ranging 6.0 $\pm$ 0.1. The samples of the parent rocks, the normal soils, the tailings and the channel deposits from the studied area were chemically analysed. From the result, the heavy metal concenlration of the soils is a little Jow compared with that of the parent rocks, shows the hydrologic process of the surface and the groundwater. The contamination of the tailings from the ore mining are high in lead, copper and arsenic. In the channel deposits the concenlrations of lead and copper are abnormally high but that of arsenic is uniquely low. And most of heavy metal contamination are decreased with the distance from the mine. It is caused by the properties of the surface and the ground water during the process of the heavy metal migration. The correlation-coefficient between sand and silt contents and the concentrations of Cd, Cu and Pb are significant but the amounts of As and Hg are increased with the clay contents. The dispersion of the heavy metals with the distance shows that the concentrations of them in the soils sampled at distance of 100 m to 200 m along the stream started near the Palbong mine are extremely high compared with those from other distances. These discrepancies are significant in Cd, Cu, Pb and Hg, but low in As. All the samples contain below detection limit of Cr+6 In the present stream water the concentrations of the heavy metals are not detected. So, it is interpreted that the concentrations in the soils are caused by the activities of the mining during the operation and have been continued by the dispersion from the tailings since after the closure of the mining, especially by the surface and ground water. The concentrations are diminished with the distance from the mining site, but in the interval of 800-2000 m increases abruptly. In the soil samples counted on the dispersion direction by wind, the lowering of the concentration is relatively uniform with the distance from the mining site. So, the rapid increase of the heavy metal concentrations is presumed to have been caused by the ground-water movement. In the migration of the heavy metals, the groundwater conditions, such as pH, Eh, the contents of colloidal particles, and Mn and Fe oxides are closely involveo. Integrating with these factors, it is interpreted that the groundwater conditions which have caused the heavy metal contamination of the studied area are those that the pH is about 3 in oxidized conditions, the contents of the colloidal particles are low, and Mn and Fe oxides are not involved in the migration of the heavy metals. Meanwhile, the vegetables growing on the soils in the studied area are not affected by the contamination of the heavy metals.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.491-501
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• 2022

This study evaluated the contamination levels of inland pollution sources flowing into Taeanhaean National Park. The nutritional status of influents was assessed by analyzing water quality and trophic status index (TRIX) at 52 stations, and the contamination levels of sediments were evaluated by analyzing eutrophication cleanup index (CIET) and heavy metals at 36 stations. The results of the TRIX analysis showed that 26 of the 52 stations had influents with a TRIX value of 6-10 (poor water quality/very high trophic level), indicating atrocious water quality and high eutrophication levels. The results of the CIET analysis showed that 4 out of the 36 stations were highly contaminated with organic matter. Analysis of heavy metals showed that the copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) levels exceeded the threshold effects level (TEL) and probable effects levels (PEL) at several stations. In addition, the arsenic (As) level exceeded the threshold effects level at one station, and the levels of the other heavy metals (Cd, Cr⁶⁺, Ni, Pb, and Hg) were lower. Most inland pollution sources have been identified as small-scale, but long-term and continuous exposure can negatively affect the marine ecosystem; therefore, it necessary to prepare inland pollution source management standards and measures suitable for the characteristics of the coastal area.