• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.401-408
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• 2017

Organic amendments such as animal waste compost, lime-bordeaux mixture, and lime sulphur mixture contain heavy metal(loid)s which are toxic to human being, animal, and plant. The objective of this study was to compare heavy metal(loid)s contamination of soil between conventional and organic farm. Soil samples were collected from 10 conventional and 38 organic fruit farms. At each sampling point, top (0~15 cm) and sub soil (15~30 cm) were taken using hand auger. Total concentration for arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), nikel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) in the collected soil were measured. The pollution index (PI) for heavy metal in organic farms indicated it was unpolluted area. However, mean value of PI for organic farms (0.143) was higher than that for conventional farms (0.122). High Geoaccumulation index (Igeo) for Cu, Pb, and Zn implied that grape farms were more polluted than others fruit farms because a lot of lime-bordeaux mixture and lime sulphur were applied in organic grape farms. Especially, top soils showed higher level of contamination than sub soil. Based on the above results, organic amendments might cause accumulation of heavy metals in soil. Therefore, particular attention should be paid for concentration of Cu, Pb, and Zn, when organic amendments are used in the organic fruit farms.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.251-258
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• 2017

This study was conducted to identify transition characteristics of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) and to calculate bio-concentration factors (BCF) in the three perennial root medicinal plants, namely Codonopsis lanceolata (Deoduck), Platycodon grandiflorum (Balloon flower) and Panax ginseng (Korean ginseng) grown in major medicinal plant producing districts in Korea. Average BCF values ranged from 0.009~0.029 in As, 0.334~1.453 in Cd, and 0.021~0.023 in Pb in three perennial root medicinal plants. The BCF values increased in the order of ginseng (0.029) > deodeok (0.012) > balloon flower (0.009) for As, balloon flower (1.453) > deodeok (0.685) > ginseng (0.334) for Cd, and ginseng (0.023) > deodeok (0.022) > balloon flower (0.021) for Pb. The BCF values calculated in this study will be useful for predicting the uptake of heavy metal (loid)s. Further study on uptake and accumulation mechanism of toxic metal (loid)s by agricultural products is required to assess the human health risk associated with soil contamination.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.29-38
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• 2016

There have been only a few studies focused on the stabilization of metal (loid)s in anaerobic soils such as paddy soils. In this study, laboratory-scale column tests were conducted to artificially manipulate anoxic conditions in submerged paddy fields and we observed the release behavior of As, Cd, Pb, and Zn, as well as to examine the stabilization effect of steel refining slag (SRS) on the metal(loid)s. The leachate samples were collected and chemical parameters were monitored during the test period. Results suggest that anoxic conditions were developed during submersion, and that As or heavy metals (particularly Cd) fractions bound to ferrous (Fe) /manganese (Mn) oxides were easily dissociated. Moreover, As is also reduced by itself to a trivalent form with higher mobility in the reducing environment of rice paddy soil. However, it was also shown that SRS significantly decreased the dissolution of Zn, Pb, Cd, and As in the the leachates; their removal rates in the SRS-treated soil were 66 %, 45 %, 24 %, and 84 %, respectively, of those in the control soil.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.663-673
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• 2017

Heavy metal(loid) contamination of rice is the main issue in abandoned metal mine area with regard to food safety. A field study was conducted in mine area to see if soil amendments treatment including calcium superphosphate, sulfur, steel slag and S-containing fertilizer could reduce As and/or Cd content in rice grain and increase the growth of rice. The As content in brown rice reduced to 60% compared to the control only in $7.0Mg\;ha^{-1}$ of steel slag treatment. Cd reduction in rice was thought to be not the effect of amendments but the result from the difference in growth and development of rice plant and this could be ascribed to low soil Cd availability to rice plant. Compared with control, increased rice yield of cultivar Hwanggeumnuri was 1.3~2.2 and $1.5Mg\;ha^{-1}$ in calcium super phosphate and S-containing fertilizer treatment, respectively and the trend was also observed in cultivar Ungwang. However, steel slag treatment reduced the Ungwang yield by $0.4{\sim}0.9Mg\;ha^{-1}$. Future work will be needed to establish the agricultural measure with which secure the safety and yield of rice simultaneously.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.64-71
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• 2015

Soil contamination with arsenic and heavy metals is a worldwide problem. Main objective of this research was to evaluated effects of reducing heavy metal leaching under reduced soil condition amended with industrial by-products. The contaminated soil was amended with 3% (w/w) of limestone (Ls), steel slag (SS) and acid mine drainage sludge (AMDS). Synthetic acid rain ($H_2SO_4:HNO_3=6:4$, pH 5.5 fixed) was used for feeding solution with flow rate of $0.78{\sim}0.88mL\;min^{-1}$. Results showed that similar pH and EC of leachate was observed in all treatments regardless of applied industrial by-products. However, arsenic concentration of leachate increased when industrial by-products were mixed. Meanwhile, concentration of heavy metal in the leachate decreased from 11.3 to 4.59 mg for Cd, from 92.3 to 7.93 mg for Pb, and from 11,716 to 1,788 mg for Zn via immobilization in soil with AMDS amended, respectively. Overall, application of industrial by-products can be an environmentally-friendly way to remediate soil and(or) leachate contaminated with metal(loid)s in metal mine site.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.65-74
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• 2015

X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) analysis using X-ray absorption spectroscopy is being applied as a state-of-the-art method in a wide range of disciplines. This review article summarizes the overall procedure of XAFS analysis from the preparation of soil samples to the analysis of data in X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) region and extended Xray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) region. The previous studies on application of XANES and EXAFS techniques in environmental soil science field are discussed and classified them according to metal(loid)s (As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn). A significant number of previous studies of XAFS application in the environmental soil science field have focused on the identification of Pb chemical species in soil. Moreover, XANES and EXAFS techniques have been widely used to investigate the contamination source via identification of metal species. Similarly, these techniques were applied to identify the mechanisms of metal stabilization in soil after application of various amendments, phytoremediation, etc.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.226-234
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• 2017

In order to reduce the accumulation of toxic metals (As, Cd and Pb) in the chives, various immobilizing agents such as a soil pH change-inducing immobilizing agent (lime), sorption agent (compost, spent mushroom compost), soil pH change and sorption agent (biochar) and, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) coagulator (gypsum) and uncontaminated soil were applied to the contaminated soils in isolation and in combination. Then chives were grown and determined for As, Cd and Pb concentrations accumulated in the edible part at harvest. The Cd and Pb concentrations of the chive plant grown in the contaminated soil (no treatment) exceeded the legislated Korean guideline values (Cd: $0.05mg\;kg^{-1}$, Pb $0.1mg\;kg^{-1}$) and As concentration ($21mg\;kg^{-1}$) was 1,000 times higher than chives plant grown in uncontaminated environment in Korea. Application of lime and gypsum significantly reduced As, Cd and Pb concentrations in all chives examined, due to the increased soil pH and decreased soil DOC. Also, application of combination treatments involving DOC coagulator such as gypsum together with lime decreased As, Cd and Pb concentrations from 21, 1.3 and $9.7mg\;kg^{-1}$ to 2.1, 0.1 and $1.1mg\;kg^{-1}$, respectively. Consequently, it was concluded that pH change-inducing immobilizing agent (lime) which was already well known and DOC coagulator such as gypsum could be used as a promising immobilizing agent for safer chives plant production.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.231-238
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• 2014

BACKGROUND: Biochar (BC) has a great potential for enhancing soil fertility and carbon sequestration while facilitating beneficial waste disposition. Therefore, it is essential to assess and mitigate any inadvertent consequences associated with soil biochar amendment. Earthworm activity is very vital in the soil system, yet there are a limited number of studies that have examined their impact resulting from biochar application to soil. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, the survival, growth, reproductive tests, and oxidative DNA damage tests (measured by 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and catalase (CAT) activities) to assess the potential toxicity to earthworm Eisenia fetida in artificial soil amended with BCs were investigated. The BCs derived from perilla meal, sesame meal, and pumpkin seed were pyrolyzed at 300 and $550^{\circ}C$, and then amended with soil at a rate of 5%. All the earthworms survived, but lost weight compared to control soil after 28 day incubation period. Moreover, the BC-amended soils did not significantly affect the cocoon numbers of earthworms. Slightly higher concentrations of 8-OHdG and CAT were observed in earthworms present in BC-treated soil than those in control soil. Furthermore, the 8-OHdG concentrations in the soil amended with BC produced at $550^{\circ}C$ were greater than those at $300^{\circ}C$, and it slightly decreased as the incubation time increased. CONCLUSION: These observations could be due to higher contents of toxic metal(loid)s and also higher pH in BCs pyrolyzed at $550^{\circ}C$ than $300^{\circ}C$. While BC is efficiently being used in agricultural fields, this study suggests that it is required to assess the unintended negative impacts of BC on soil ecosystems.