• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.252-260
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• 2022

BACKGROUND: The number of biomass power plants is increasing around the world and the amount of wastes from power plants is expected to increase. But the bottom ash (BA) is not recycled and has been dumped in landfill. This study was conducted to find out functional groups of BA and adsorption rate of heavy metals on BA. METHODS AND RESULTS: The BA was dried in oven at 105℃ for 24 hours, and characterized by analyzing the chemistry, functional group, and surface area. The adsorption rates of heavy metals on BA were evaluated by different concentration, time, and pH. As a result, the adsorption amount of the heavy metals was high in the order of Zn> Cu> Cd> Ni and the removal rates of Zn, Cu, Cd, and Ni by BA was 49.75, 30.20, 32.46, and 36.10%, respectively. Also, the maximum adsorption capacity of BA was different by the heavy metal in the environmental conditions, and it was suggested that the isotherms for Zn, Ni, Cd, and Cu were adequate to Langmuir model. CONCLUSION(S): It is suggested that it would be effective to remove heavy metals in aqueous solution by using BA from biomass power plants in South Korea.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.283-296
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• 2024

This study examined the distribution of airborne metals concentrations and conducted a risk assessment in PM-10 in Gwangju from 2014 to 2022. There were a total of six points, and the concentration of heavy metals at each point was highest in the order of Pyeong-dong(1.5472 ㎍/m³ ) > Nongseong-dong(1.2093 ㎍/m³ ) > Geonguk-dong(1.0100 ㎍/m³ ) > Duam-dong(0.9684 ㎍/m³ ) > Seo-dong(0.9515 ㎍/m³ ) > Nodae-dong(0.8321 ㎍/m³ ). In recent years, the concentration of heavy metals in the atmosphere has generally risen, accompanied by an increase in heavy metals in the soil. The average seasonal concentrations were in the following order: spring(1.4448 ㎍/m³ ) > winter(1.2939 ㎍/m³ ) > fall(0.8303 ㎍/m³ ) > summer (0.5928 ㎍/m³ ). The atmospheric heavy metals most correlated with PM-10 were Ca(0.69), Fe(0.62), Al(0.62) and Mg(0.60). Within the acceptable risk level (1.0E-06) set in this study, heavy metals in the atmosphere were found to have the most excess cancer risk, and the integrated non-cancer risk was as low as 1 or less.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.524-530
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• 2016

Agricultural soils near or around industrial complexes can contain a certain amount of heavy metals that readily enter the food chain and negatively affect human health. Therefore, we conducted the study to investigate the distribution of selected heavy metals, including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and zinc (Zn), in farm-land soils around fifteen industrial complexes in the southwestern provinces, Korea. The concentrations of heavy metals in the soil samples were determined by the pseudo-total aqua regia (3 HCl : $1HNO_3$) digestion procedure. The heavy metal concentrations in most soils examined did not exceed the levels of Soil Contamination Warning Standard (SCWS) for agricultural lands (Region 1) presented in Soil Environment Conservation Law (SECL) established by Ministry of Environment (MOE), Korea. However, only one sampling site showed higher As amount ($27.1mg\;kg^{-1}$) than the SCWS level of As ($25mg\;kg^{-1}$). Pollution index (PI) for heavy metals did not exceed 1.0. The PI values were significantly positively correlated (p < 0.01) with the heavy metal concentrations. In particular, the values of correlation coefficient between the Cd and Pb concentrations and the PI values were higher than those estimated from other combinations, and thus the amounts of Cd and Pb in the agricultural soils highly affected the PI values for the heavy metals.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.64-68
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: Heavy metals (Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Li, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn) were analyzed to elucidate the impact of weir construction on their concentrations in sediments of Geum River, Korea. We also attempted to investigate the source of the heavy metals in sediments. METHODS AND RESULTS: For this study, sediments were collected from May through June in 2012. The concentrations of heavy metals except Hg were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer, and Hg was measured by automatic mercury analyzer. More clay were accumulated in the furthest stations in the upstream direction starting from the weirs. Most of the heavy metals showed higher concentrations in the most upstream located station of Geumnam Weir. However, high concentrations were not observed in the most upstream stations of the other weirs. The concentrations of Hg and As were much higher in sediments of Gap Stream. CONCLUSION: Gap Stream may be a potential source for high deposits of As and Hg. Presence of the dams may not play an important role in controlling heavy metal concentrations in sediments. It is necessary to monitor heavy metal concentrations for a longer time period to study the effect of environmental changes on heavy metal distribution in Geum River.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.559-564
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• 2011

Soil microbial functions are considered to be effective in assessing the severity of heavy metal pollution. Therefore, this study was carried out to examine the effect of heavy metals on nitrogen mineralization by measuring the releasing pattern of inorganic nitrogen ($NH_4^+$-N and $NO_3^-$-N) in a soil treated with heavy metals. A factorial combination of two heavy metals (Zn and Cd) treated with three concentrations (50, 100 and $150{\mu}mol\;g^{-1}$ soils) was used in a laboratory incubation. Nitrogen mineralization was determined at 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 42 and 56 days after the treatments replicated four times. Soil sample free from heavy metals was served as the control. The amount of nitrogen mineralization from heavy metal treated soils was found to be decreased at an increasing rate during the first 21 days of incubation. However, as the incubation progressed, nitrogen mineralization was found to be decreased at decreasing rates. Furthermore, during this period, nitrogen mineralization in Cd treated soils was significantly lower ($P{\leq}0.05$) than that of the control. Soils treated with Cd at the concentration of $150{\mu}mol\;g^{-1}$ showed the lowest N mineralization throughout the incubation. Nitrogen mineralization in Zn treated soils ($50{\mu}mol\;g^{-1}$) was found to be higher than the other heavy metal treated soils. On the base of present findings, nitrogen mineralization of soil could be considered as a viable assessment of the degree of heavy metal pollution.

• ALGAE
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.319-323
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• 2007

This study was conducted with using chlorophyll a fluorescence (indicated as photosynthetic activity) to examine the toxic effect of 96 h exposure of heavy metals and herbicides on the benthic diatom Nitzschia sp. which was isolated from pristine sediment in Pamquat Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada. Samples of benthic diatom were exposed to 0, 0.01, 0.1 and 1 mg L–1 of copper, 0, 1, 10 and 100 mg L–1 of chrome (VI), 0, 2.45, 24.5 and 245 mg L–1 of paraquat dichloride, and 0, 4.37, 43.7 and 437 mg L–1 of alachlor during 96 hours. The effective quantum yield of photochemistry (ΔF/Fm’) was evaluated by subjecting light acclimated samples to saturating pulses of light using a pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometer. The impact of heavy metals on Nitzschia sp. photosynthesis was not severe in < 1 mg L–1 but in the high concentrations (> 1 mg L–1) clearly increased toxic stress during 96 h. Herbicides had a limited impact during the exposure period but clearly increased stress on the benthic diatom with increasing concentrations. Acute response of Nitzschia sp. to selected heavy metals and herbicides was characterized, and the capacity of a benthic diatom to tolerate and recover from toxic stress was assessed.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.49-55
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• 1979

In order to investigate air pollution by heavy metals in Seoul city, the suspended particulates in the atmosphere were sampled with high volume air sampler in industrial area(Ku Ro Dong), commerical(Kwang Hwa Moon) and residential(Shin Chon Dong) from January to November, 1977. The sampled suspended particulates were digested and extracted from suspended particulates with the acidic solution by reflux-extraction technique, and were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. And mercury was measured by mercury analyzer applying the reducing sublimation technique. Among heavy metals analyzed, the iron was identified at the highest level in the suspended particulates and the chromium was the least. Through the surveyed area, the concentration of heavy metals of the industrial area was comparatively high among others and the commercial was the second. It was detected that lead was the most concentrated in the suspended particulate of the commercial area, that might be caused of the traffic emissions. The seasonal variations were analyzed and the correlations among heavy metals and total suspended particulate were also calculated. Especially, the iron was highly correlated with total suspended particulate in all the surveyed areas.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.167-172
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• 2020

The effectiveness of in situ sediment capping as a technique for heavy metal risk mitigation in Hyeongsan River estuary, South Korea was studied. Sites in the estuary were found previously to show moderate to high levels of contamination of mercury, methylmercury and other heavy metals. A 400 m x 50 m section of the river was selected for a thin layer capping demonstration, where the total area was divided into 4 sections capped with different combinations of capping materials (zeolite, AC/zeolite, AC/sand, zeolite/sand). Pore water concentrations in the different sites were studied using diffusive gradient in thin film (DGT) probes. All capping amendments showed reduction in the pore water concentration of the different heavy metals with top 5 cm showing %reduction greater than 90% for some heavy metals. The relative maxima for the different metals were found to be translated to lower depths with addition of the caps. For two-layered cap with AC, order of placement should be considered since AC can easily be displaced due to its relatively low density. Investigation of methylmercury (MeHg) in the site showed that MeHg and %MeHg in pore water corresponds well with maxima for sulfide, Fe and Mn suggesting mercury methylation as probably coupled with sulfate, Fe and Mn reduction in sediments. Our results showed that thin-layer capping of active sorbents AC and zeolite, in combination with passive sand caps, are potential remediation strategy for sediments contaminated with heavy metals.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.83-87
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• 1990

This study was carried out to investigate the pollution of heavy metals in soil of seven stations from the upper spot (Yeungchun Dam) of Kumho River to the downstream(Gangchang Bridge). The results obtained were as follows: 1. The content of heavy metals in soil of Kumho River basin was highest at Gangchang Bridge [expresed in $\mu$g/g : Mn(246.0), Cd(1.90), Fe(551.2), Cu(108.2), Zn(86.4), Cr(80.2), respectively]. Whereas, the content of heavy metals expect for Mn, Cu was lowest at Yeungchun Dam [Cd(0.40), Fe(548.0), Zn(30.7), Cr(6.2), respectively] Also, the content of Cr, Zn was increased when the sampling areas are changed from upstream to downstream except for Hayang Bridge, and Hayang Bridge was the diverging point of the heavy metals content. 2. There were relatively correlated between Mn : FE, Cu, Zn, Cr, Fe : Cu, Zn, Cr(0.40 < $\left$\mid${r}\right$\mid$$ < 0.70), and were high correlated between Cd : Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cu : Zn, Zn : Cr(0.70 < $\left$\mid${r}\right$\mid$$ < 0.90). Particularly, there was higest correlated between Cd : Cr, Cu : Cr(0.90< $\left$\mid${r}\right$\mid$$ < 1.0)

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.32-39
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• 2013

This research focused on the effects of heavy metals on the biomonitoring activity of genetically engineered bioluminescent bacteria, Pseudomonas putida mt-2 KG1206. KG1206 was exposed to single or binary mixtures of different heavy metals as well as soils contaminated with heavy metals. In case of single exposure with different inducer pollutant, the toxicity order was as followings : As(III) > Cd, As(V) >> Cu, Cr(VI). The toxic effects of the binary mixtures was compared to the expected effect based on a simple theory of probabilities. The interactive effects were mostly additive, while in few cases antgonistic and synergistic mode of action was observed for some concentration combinations. No considerable correlation was found between the total metal contents in soils and the bioluminescence activity of each sample. However, statistically significant differences (p = 0.0102) were observed between two groups, classified based on arsenite contamination. These results demonstrate the usage of recombinant bioluminescent microorganism in biomonitoring and the complex interactive effects of metals.