• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.138-145
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• 2015

Heavy metal pollution in agricultural field near the abandoned metal mines is a critical problem in Korea. General remediation technique is to apply chemical amendments and soil covering. However, there is no specific guidelines for conducting soil covering. Therefore, main objective of this research was to determine optimum soil covering technique with microcosm experiment. Three different chemical amendments, lime stone (LS), steel slag (SS), and acid mine drainage sludge (AMDS), were examined and varied soil covering depth, 20, 30, 40cm, was applied to determine optimum remediation technique. Bioavailable heavy metal concentration in soil and total concentration of heavy metals in crop were monitored. Result showed that average heavy metal concentration in varied soil covering depth was ordered as 40 cm ($14.5mg\;kg^{-1}$) < 20 cm ($14.6mg\;kg^{-1}$) < 30 cm ($16.0mg\;kg^{-1}$) and also heavy metal concentration in crop was ordered as 40 cm ($100{\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$) < 30 cm ($183{\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$) < 20 cm ($190{\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$). In terms of chemical amendments, average heavy metal concentration was decreased as AMDS ($150{\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$) < SS ($151{\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$) < LS ($154{\mu}g\;kg^{-1}$). Overall, depth of soil covering should be over 30 cm to minimize bioaccumulation of heavy metals and SS and LS could be applied in heavy metal contaminated soil for remediation purposes.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.1562-1567
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• 2009

Heavy metal contamination levels in Andong reservoir and Imha reservoir were measured with heavy metal contents in both water and sediment, and analyzed with heavy metal accumulation level in inhabitant fish, Carassius auratus, using an inductively coupled plasma spectrometer and an atomic absorption spectrometer. High levels of heavy metal contents in water, sediment and the tissues of C. auratus were detected. Likewise, relatively high levels of As were detected in water and sediment from Andong reservoir. In addition, higher levels of Cr, Cu, Cd and As content were detected in muscle and bone tissues of fish from Andong reservoir than those from Imha reservoir. As a result, the heavy metal content of water, sediment and inhabitant fish, C. auratus, in Andong reservoir was higher than Imha reservoir. We proposed that heavy metal contamination in water and inhabitant fish is attributed to various metals derived from abandoned mines and farmlands that are upstream of Andong reservoir.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.518-524
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• 2014

Heavy metal pollution in agricultural field near at the abandoned metal mines has been a critical issue in Korea. In particular, bioaccumulation in plants can have detrimental effect on human health. Main objective of this research was to examine arsenic (As) concentration in soil with varied extraction methods and to determine bioaccumulation and biological transfer factor in different crops. Results showed that bioaccumulation ratio of As for total contents in soil was ordered leafy and stem vegetables (1.19%) > fruit bearing vegetables (0.79%) > pulses (0.40%) > root vegetables (0.36%) with different crop species. Among 6 different extraction methods, all of extraction methods showed high correlation ($R^2=0.87-0.97$) except DTPA ($R^2=0.25$) when comparing As concentration in soil extracted with different extractants and As concentration in each crops. Calculated biological transfer factor was ranged 0.002-0.018 depending on crop species. Overall, concentration of As in crops can be varied and best management practice for minimizing bioaccumulation of As should be considered depending on crop species.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.329-338
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• 2013

The objective of this study is to investigate the contents and seasonal variation of arsenic in soils and crop plant(rice) in paddy fields around the abandoned metal mines in Korea. The soils were extracted by various methods including aqua regia, 1 M $MgCl_2$, 0.01 M $CaCl_2$ and 0.05 M EDTA to evaluate the relationships between soils and crop plants(rice). According to correlation analysis, statistically significant correlation with the four methods(p<0.01) were found in soils extracted by various chemical solutions and arsenic contents in soils were decreased in the order of 1M $MgCl_2$ > 0.01M $CaCl_2$ > 0.05 M EDTA. Biological accumulation coefficients(BACs) of rice stalks were higher than those of rice grain, and the coefficients under reducing(August) environment were higher than those under oxidizing conditions(October). Assuming the rice consumption of 315 g/day by farm households in Korea, the amount of daily intake of arsenic were estimated to be 77.8 ${\mu}g/day$. The daily intake of arsenic from the rice estimates up to 65% of ADI(acceptable daily intake) that the FAO/WHO Joint Food Additive and Contaminants Committee has set to evaluate their safeties.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.1080-1084
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• 2011

Predictive model for estimating total contents of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) was developed by stepwise multiple-regression analysis using chemical properties and extractable contents of metal in paddy soil adjacent to abandoned mines in 2009 and 2010. Soil properties, e.g. pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic matter (OM), available phosphorus ($P_2O_5$), and exchangeable cations (i.e. Ca, Na, K, Mg) were measured. Total contents of Cd and Pb as well as extractable contents of metals were analyzed by ICP-OES. Results showed that the total and extractable contents were estimated to be 3.55 and $0.27mg\;kg^{-1}$ in Cd and 83.38 and $24.32mg\;kg^{-1}$ in Pb on the average. From stepwise analysis, it was found that the contents of extractable Cd, Zn, Cu, as well as exchangeable Na were significantly influenced on estimation of the total contents of Cd in soil. Moreover, it also showed that the contents of extractable Pb, Zn, and Cu significantly affected estimation of the total contents of Pb in soil. More significant relationship between estimated and measured value in total contents of Pb was observed than those of Cd ($R^2$=0.87, p<0.0001). This demonstrates that extractable contents of metal are influenced more on estimation of total contents of Cd and Pb in soil than soil properties.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.290-298
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• 2014

A bacterial strain with the potential ability to solubilize heavy metals was isolated from heavy metal contaminated soils collected from abandoned mines of Boryeong area in South Korea. The bacterial strain with the highest degree of metal resistance was shown to have close proximity with Shewanella xiamenensis FJ589031, according to 16S rRNA sequence analysis, and selected for investigating the mobilization of metals in soil or plant by the strain. The strain was found to be capable of solubilizing metals both in the absence and in the presence of metals (Co, Pb and Cd). Metal mobilization potential of the strain was assessed in a batch experiment and the results showed that inoculation could increase the concentrations of water soluble Co, Pb and Cd by 48, 34 and 20% respectively, compared with those of non-inoculated soils. Bacterial-assisted growth promotion and metal uptake in sunflower (Helianthus annuus) was evaluated in a pot experiment. In comparison with non-inoculated seedlings, the inoculation led to increase the growth of H. annuus by 24, 18 and 16% respectively in Co, Pb and Cd contaminated soils. Moreover, enhanced accumulation of Co, Pb and Cd in the shoot and root systems was observed in inoculated plants, where metal translocation from root to the above-ground tissues was also found to be enhanced by the strain. Plant growth promotion and metal mobilizing potential of the strain suggest that the strain could effectively be employed in enhancing phytoextraction of Co, Pb and Cd from contaminated soils.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.87-101
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• 1999

This study has been carried out to examine the feasibility of washing technique for reducing the heavy metal contamination level of tailing wastes and agricultural soil surrounding abandoned metal mines. Some organic acids with low molecular weight were used as washing solution. Initial contamination levels of copper and lead for some soil samples were found to exceed the standard levels of countermeasure and concern, and those of cadmium to approach the standard level of countermeasure. Experimental results using sequential extraction method revealed that more than half of copper and lead existing in tailing wastes are adsorbed forms available for plants. There are some proportional relationships between metal concentrations determined by using 0.1N HCI solution and those determined by sequential extractions. Citric acid was turned out to be superior to oxalic acid and acetic acid with low molecular weight in washing above three metals. When citric acid is used for washing heavy metals from soil, it is desirable to operate at pH less than 5.5 for better washing effect. Metal removal effect by citric acid solution has been proved to depend upon solution concentration and the mass ratio of solution to soil. Addition of SDS(Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate) to citric acid improved the washing effect of cadmium among three metal most significantly. while copper removal did not change. Washing technique using citric acid for removal of heavy metals from agricultural soil or tailing wastes is recognized to be an effective remediation method.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.259-268
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• 2005

Most of the tailings have been left without any management in their mines and have become the main source of serious environmental problems in nearby groundwater, stream and cultivated lands. To compare fractionation and potential mobility of heavy metals in tailings and paddy soils near abandoned 10-metalliferous mines in Korea, the distribution and chemical fractions of heavy metal and their mobility in relation to chemical compositions were investigated. The pollution index of heavy metal in mine tailing calculated with the permissible levels were in the order Cheongyang>Dogok>Beutdeun>Baegwoul mine, which were considered sufficient to raise environmental problems. The rates of 0.1M-HCl extractable Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and Ni to total content in paddy soils were 49.1, 50.7, 26.8, 18.4 and 2.9%, respectively, and their rates of heavy metals in paddy soils were higher than that of mine tailing. Dominant chemical forms of heavy metals in tailings were sulfide and residual form (63-91%), specially, the exchangeable portion of Cd (21%) was relatively higher than that of other metals in paddy soils. The mobility factor of heavy metals in tailings and paddy soils was in the order Cd>Zn>Cu>Pb, and the mobility factor in tailing varied considerably among the mines. The potential mobility of heavy metals in tailings showed significant positive correlation with water-soluble $Al^{3+}$ and $Fe^{3+}$ contents, while in paddy soils, it correlated negatively with soil pH values.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.57-66
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• 2008

The frequency analysis and the probability plot were applied to heavy metal contents of soils collected from the Goseong Cu mine area as a statistic method for the determination of the threshold value which was able to partition a population comprising largely dispersed heavy metal contents into the background and the anomalous populations. Almost all the heavy metal contents of soil showed a positively skewed distributions and their cumulative percentage frequencies plotted as a curved lines on logarithmic probability plot which represent a mixture of two or more overlapping populations. Total Cu, Pb and Cd data and extractable Cu and Pb data could be partitioned into background and anomalous populations by using the inflection in each curve. The others showed a normally distributed population or an largely overlapped populations. The threshold values obtained from replotted frequency distributions with the partitioned populations were Cu 400 mg/kg, Pb 450 mg/kg and Cd 3.5 mg/kg in total contents and Cu 40 mg/kg and Pb 12 mg/kg in extractable contents, respectively. The thresholds for total contents are much higher than the tolerable level of soil pollution proposed by Kloke(Cu 100 mg/kg, Pb 100 mg/kg, Cd 3 mg/kg), but those for extractable contents are not exceeded the worrying level of soil pollution proposed by Ministry of Environment(Cu 50 mg/kg, Pb 100 mg/kg). When the threshold values were used as the criteria of soil pollution in the study area, $9{\sim}19%$ of investigated soil population was in polluted level. The spatial distributions of heavy metal contents greater than threshold values showed that polluted soils with heavy metals are restricted within the mountain soils in the vicinity of abandoned mines.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.396-406
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• 2004

Current physical and chemical methodologies, conventionally used to clean up metal contaminated soils, are generally too expensive to apply in large hazardous waste sites including agricultural lands adjacent to closed or abandoned metal mines. Phytoremediation using plants to extract, sequester and detoxify environmental pollutants is one of the cost-effective and aesthetically-pleasing alternatives, compared with environmentally destructive remedial methods currently being practiced. But, phytoremediation has some limitations such as time consuming and low performance: in general, it is seasonally dependent and slower in removing metals than other methods, and metal accumulating plants are slow growers. Improvement of plants for metal tolerance, accumulation, and translocation using genetic engineering techniques recently opened up new possibilities for phytoremediation. In this paper, we have discussed about recent developments in conventional and genetically engineered phytoremediation. For the conventional phytoremediation, focuses are on the natural hyperaccumulator and the chemically assisted phytoremediation. Some pros and cons on the phytoremediation using transgenic plants, coupled with focusing on the mechanistic view points, are also discussed. It might be concluded that the transgenic plants will be effective tools in the practical application of phytoremediation especially for the highly contaminated soils but mechanisms involved should be deeply understood in advance.