• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.15-24
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• 2015

The soil ecosystem is a complex system performing particularly complicated and varied functions, such as providing a habitat for organisms, acting as a medium for plant cultivation and growth, and functioning as a buffer against external materials in the environment. To assess whether these important functions of the soil ecosystem are executed appropriately, the concept of soil ecosystem health has been introduced, which is defined as the ability to perform the specific functions of the soil ecosystem. Understanding soil properties and soil indicators related to soil functions is essential to assess the soil health. In this study, systems, the indicators, and evaluation factors for assessing soil ecosystem health employed in a number of countries were investigated and discussed. In particular, it is necessary to introduce a technique for the evaluation of soil ecosystem health in Korea and to develop techniques and indicators appropriate to the soil ecosystem and status in Korea.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.10-26
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• 2018

This paper reviews the soil conservation policies (SCP) in the global community and suggests the improved options in SCP in Korea. Soil Environment Conservation Act in Korea states soil is a valuable natural resource and it's value should be enhanced to provide the benefits that soil ecosystem can offer to people. However, SCP in Korea limits its application to not only the scope of soil environment but also the issues on soil pollution. The SCPs in the advanced countries have shifted their scopes from soil environment to soil ecosystem, put emphasis on the conservation of soil health rather than soil quality, and set the goals to optimize the soil ecosystem services to people while minimizing the soil threats. In this context, the soil security initiative was recently proposed to accomplish this goal while employing the nexus concept to bridge the soil ecosystem services with water, atmosphere, climate and biodiversity. Therefore, the key policies in soil conservation in Korea should expand the scope from soil environment to soil ecosystem, focus on soil health management, and develop the holistic governance among diverse stakeholder to maximize the soil ecosystem services. Soil ecosystem should be secured by national soil policies for human health.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.97-103
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• 1997

Carbofuran was incubated for four weeks in three differenf types of paddy soil samples at 25$\circ$C. The soil samples prepared in the present study were as follows: control soil, 3% cellulose added soil and 10% cellulose added soil. The degradation rate of carbofuran significantly decreased by the addition of cellulose to soil(p<0.05). The initial pH of soils was 5.0. After incubation for four weeks, the pH of 10% cellulose added soil sample was lower than those of control soil and 3% cellulose added soil. According to increased organic carbon content of the soil, redox potentials of soils decreased. The decreased degradation rate of carbofuran in 10% cellulose added soil was related to the highly negative redox potentials in contrast with the oxidised conditions of control soil and 3% cellulose added soil.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.487-496
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• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to create soil contamination maps using QGIS (Quantum Geographic Information System) and suggest selection methods for soil pollution sources for preferential investigation in a soil contamination survey. Method: Data from soil contamination surveys over five years in Gyeonggi-do Province, South Korea (2013-2017) were used for making soil contamination maps and analyzing the density of survey points. By analyzing points exceeding the concern level of soil contamination, soil pollutant sources for priority management were identified and selection methods for preferred survey points were suggested through a study of the model area. Results: A soil contamination survey was conducted at 1,478 points over five years, with the largest number of surveys conducted in industrial complex and factory areas. Soil contamination maps for copper, zinc, nickel, lead, arsenic, fluoride, and total petroleum hydrocarbons were made, and most of the survey points were found to be below concern level 1 for soil contamination. The density of the survey points is similar to that of densely populated areas and factory areas. The analysis results of points exceeding the criteria showed that soil pollutant sources for priority management were areas where ore and scrap metals were used and stored, traffic-related facilities areas, industrial complex and factory areas, and areas associated with waste and recycling. According to the study of the model area, the preferred survey points were traffic-related facilities with 15 years or more since their construction and factories with a score of 10 or more for soil contamination risk. Conclusion: Soil contamination surveys should use GIS for even regional distribution of survey points and for the effective selection of preferred survey points. This study may be used as guidelines to select points for a soil contamination survey.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.1-11
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• 2024

Soil amendments are often used to improve the soil health of recalimed soil that has lost its value and is only used for road backfill of landfill cover. In total, 10 soil amendments were tested on two types of soil, that is, landfarming-treated DDC soil and thermally treated YJ soil. The 10 amendments were vermicompost (VC), peat moss (PM), chicken manure (CM), EM product (EM), chlorella (CCR), biochar (BC), compound fertilizer (CF), zeolite (ZL), dolomite lime (DL), and gypsum (GS). After 10 weeks of incubation with 5% (W/W) of the amendment, 7 soil enzyme activities along with germination and seedling growth of lentil were compared to the control. The results showed that the organic amendments CM and CR significantly enhanced the soil enzyme activities in both the DDC and YJ soils. However, the VC amendment in both types of soils best enhanced the germination and growth of lentils. Furthermore, even after 10 weeks of incubation with the amendment, plant stress and soil infertility, as indicated by the specific root length (SRL), still persisted despite the addition of soil amendment materials. These results suggest that a longer duration than 10 weeks is necessary for amendments to take effect on soil health enhancement.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.654-661
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• 2019

This study assessed the stabilization of fluorine (F)-contaminated soil using calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)₂) and the consequent changes in human health risk. The bioavailable F decreased to 3.5%, (i.e., 57.9 ± 1.27 mg/kg in 6% Ca(OH)₂-treated soil sample) from 43.0%, (i.e., 711 ± 23.4 mg/kg in control soil sample). This resulted from the conversion of water-soluble F to stable calcium fluoride, which was confirmed by XRD spectrometry. Soil ingestion, inhalation of fugitive dust from soil, and water ingestion were selected as exposure pathways for human health risk assessment. Non-carcinogenic risks of F in soils reduced to less than 1.0 after stabilization, ranging from 4.2 to 0.34 for child and from 3.0 to 0.25 for adult. Contaminated water ingestion owing to the leaching of F from soil to groundwater was considered as a major exposure pathway. The risks through soil ingestion and inhalation of fugitive dust from soil were insignificant both before and after stabilization, although F concentration exceeded the Korean soil regulatory level before stabilization. Our data suggested that substantial risk to human health owing to various potential exposure pathways could be addressed by managing F present in soil.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.112-122
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• 2023

To restore the ecological function of contaminated soil and maximize the ecological services provided by the soil, besides the toxicity orrisk caused by pollutants, the functional aspects of the soil ecosystem should be considered. In this study, a method for evaluating the health of cleaned soil was presented, and the applicability of the proposed evaluation method was examined by applying it to soil treated with washing and landfarming. Productivity, habitat, water retention capacity, nutrient cycling, carbon retention capacity, and buffering capacity were used as soil health evaluation indicators. The results showed that the soil health was not completely recovered after remediation, and even in the case of the washed soil, the health was lower than before remediation. On the other hand, there was no significant change in soil quality due to oil pollution, but soil health deteriorated. Unlike the slightly improved soil quality after landfarming treatment, soil health was not completely restored. Therefore, the results of this study indicate that it is desirable to consider both soil quality and health when evaluating the remediation effect. The soil health evaluation method proposed in this study can be usefully utilized for the sustainable use of cleaned soil and to promote ecosystem services.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.36-50
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• 2023

Soil health can deteriorate through both contamination and remediation. Accordingly, revitalization processes are needed to reuse or recycle the remediated soil. The study was conducted to assess the changes in soil health parameters of heavy metals-contaminated soil during soil washing process. In addition, unit processes were proposed to improve the quality of the remediated soil relevant to its reclamation purposes, such as agricultural and forest lands. A total of 21 indicators were used to determine whether the soil health was degraded or recovered. The performance of 6 amendments in improving soil health was quantitatively evaluated according to their dosage and application duration. Finally, the experimental results were assessed by simple regression analyses to determine the statistical significance and relative performance of each amendment. The results indicated that 18 health indicators out of 21 deteriorated through the soil washing process. Based on the results, it is recommended that several effective amendments be complementarily combined and applied in real applications because use of single amendment does not likely improve the quality of remediated soils.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.59-67
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• 2023

This review examined the current administrative policies and guidelines for management of reclaimed soils after remediation processes and proposed practical strategies to improve the potential value of the remediated soil as a resource. Three management practices are proposed to facilitate more efficient recycling of remediated soil; obligatory use, quality certification, and tracking of the remediated soils. If properly implemented in utilization of remediated soil, these strategies could contribute to enhancing public safety by assuring soil quality. Such administrative tools, for both suppliers and demanders, are expected to mitigate potential risks associated with the transactions of remediated soil. To enhance the quality assurance process, a soil quality certification combined with the soil health assessment index was proposed. The systematic integration of the suggested practices with soil health assessment can allow to produce optimal results, encompassing affordability, efficiency, and accessibility, which helps establishing more robust 'Remediated Soil Recycling Management System (RSRMS)'. Subsequent researches should be conducted to develop more effective policies that incorporate soil health assessment tools. The proposed management practices for remediated soil, coupled with soil health assessment, can be a pioneering effort to achieve such goals. By fostering an environmentally friendly policies, the sustainable utilization of remediated soil can be attained. Overall, the proposed strategies can provide a sound framework for responsible and sustainable soil management practices.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.383-390
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• 2010

Exposure to fugitive dust can contribute to several respiratory health problems, and proper sampling of fugitive dust is necessary to assess exposure. However, field sampling of soil dust encounters problems from spatial and temporal differences in soil properties, field operations, and meteorological conditions. To minimize these problems, we designed a dust generator that simulates dust generation from soil. The dust generator consisted of a rotating chamber where soil samples were loaded and tumbled, and a settling chamber, where airborne soil dust samples were collected. As standard operating conditions, we decided on 2 g soil mass, 10 min sampling time, and 20 rpm rotating speed, with a flow rate of 30 l/min, based on three common soil textures of loam, sandy loam and silt loam. To evaluate optimal operating conditions, we used mixtures of Joomoonjin silica sand and clay. Although the average $PM_{10}$ concentration of Joomoonjin silica sand was low, dust concentrations were increased by an increased content of clay. The dust concentrations were consistent across repeated experiments, and showed similar concentration profiles during the sampling time with mixtures of clay and sand (coefficient of variation was $13.6{\pm}w;7.1%$). The results demonstrated that these standard operating conditions were suitable for the dust generator, which can be used to investigate variations in soil properties that affect dust production and potential potency of fugitive dust exposure.