• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.56-64
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• 2013

After the law has been enacted for the prevention and recovery of mining damage in 2005, efforts of remediation have been started to recover heavy metal contaminated soils in agricultural land near mining sites. As part of an effort, the upper part of cultivation layer has been treated through covering up with clean soil, but the heavy metal contamination could be still spreaded to the surrounding areas because heavy metals may be remained in the lower part of cultivation layers. In this study, the most frequently occurring arsenic (As) contamination was selected to study in agricultural land nearby an abandoned metal mining site. We applied separation technologies considering the differences in the physical characteristics of soil particles (particle size, density, magnetic properties, hydrophobicity, etc.). Based on physical and chemical properties of arsenic (As) containing particles in agricultural lands nearby mining sites, we applied sieve separation, specific gravity separation, magnetic separation, and flotation separation to remove arsenic (As)-containing particles in the contaminated soil. Results of this study show that the removal efficiency of arsenic (As) were higher in the order of the magnetic separation, flotation separation, specific gravity separation and sieve separation.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.153-160
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• 1993

Health complaints among vinylhouse workers in Sungjoo county, Kyungpook province led to the investigation of heavy metal levels of air, soil and humans as well as physical conditions of the vinylhouse. The average temperature and humidity inside the vinylhouse were 8 higher and 10% point lower, respectively, as compared to the outside. While discomfort index(D. I.) outside was pleasant level(69.2), D. I. inside was 82 at which point 100% of people feels discomfort. Cadmium concentration of soils inside the vinylhouse(0.116 mg/kg) was 1.8 times higher than the soils outside. Arsenic concentration of soils inside the vinylhouse(4.882 mg/kg) was only slightly higher than the soils outside(4.182 ng/kg). However, both heavy metal concentrations detected in soils inside or outside the vinylhouse were within the normal range. Analysis of 10 air samples taken inside the vinylhouse showed that only one sample had a cadmium concentration above the detectable level and the rest of samples were below the detectable levels. While there were no difference of arsenic concentrations in urine between male and female, cadmium concentrations in urine samples of female (3.31 ug/l) was slightly higher than male(2.38 ug/l). Age-dependent increases of cadmium concentrations in urine samples were also observed. However, there was no concentration difference of these heavy metals in urine between vinylhouse workers and non-vinylhouse workers. Urine concentrations of cadmium and arsenic detected from vinylhouse workers or non-vinylhouse workers were within the normal range. The present study represents a first attempt to evaluate physical and environmental risk factors of the vinylhouse affecting the vinylhouse farmer's health. The study revealed that, while physical conditions of the vinylhouse such as temperature and humidity are the possible factors associated with the farmer's complaints, environmental contamination as judged from heavy metal levels in soil, air and humans is not a risk factor contributing to the vinylhouse farmer's health problem.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.5-11
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• 2010

Abandoned mines release acid mine drainage and cause the contamination of soil and crops around the mine area. The objective of current study is to evaluate effect of mine on the soil and crop contamination. Soils, water, and crops were collected and analyzed, and the heavy metal data were classified into types of the soil, types of crops, and distance from the minehead. Surface soils of the mine area were highly contaminated with heavy metals, especially with zinc and lead. Tailings and cultivated paddy soils were also highly contaminated. Heavy metal concentrations upon distance from minehead decrease steadily as the distance from the minehead increase. The correlation between heavy metals was extracted from soils and the content in the rice samples showed a positive relation for arsenic and cadmium but not a meaningful relation for other metals.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.17-25
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• 2018

The Boroo area in Mongolia is known to have been contaminated with heavy metals due to irregular gold mining activities and the release of mercury from gold extraction process. Soil and mine tailings were collected to analyze contamination patterns of heavy metals in the Boroo area. Analyses revealed that mercury, arsenic and cadmium concentrations exceeded the regulatory standard of the nation (Mongolia National Standard). In case of mercury, about 80% of the survey area was over the limit and the concentration distribution heavily influenced by influx of mercury through water transport. Soil contamination by arsenic was most severe that the concentration exceeded the regulatory limit in almost entire survey area, showing peak concentrations at nearby streams and river along with ore processing facilities. For cadmium, about 20% of the survey area was over the limit with the concentration distribution similar to that of arsenic.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.103-116
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• 2022

Heavy metal contaminations were investigated in fishes inhabiting the basins of Andong, Imha and Yeongju dam basins along the upper stream of the Nakdong river. The characteristics of heavy metals contamination in fish were investigated based on sampling sites located in the Andong dam basin. The muscle tissue was analyzed for 267 objects of 26 species from the Andong dam, 50 objects of 17 species from Imha dam, 38 objects of 9 species fromYoungju dam basin.The type and amount of heavy metals concentrated in the body of the fishes was found to be species-dependent. The heavy metal species which contamination increase through the Seokpo smelter are chromium, zinc, cadmium, and lead, and these are very likely the influence of the smelter. The concentration of eight heavy metals in fish from the Andong dam basin was higher than that in fish from the Imha and Youngju dam basins; the values for zinc, arsenic, and cadmium were significantly higher. However, mercury and lead exhibited high values in the Imha and Yeongju dam basins, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.186-191
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• 1998

This study was investigated the distributions of heavy metal concentration in a soil near abandoned mine in Chung thong Nam Do. The abandoned mines were Gubong gold mine and Sinsung coal mine. The results were as follows : 1) The concentration of As and Pb in Gubong mine were 309.2mg/kg and 1163.5mg/kg, that is exceeded the countermeasure criteria. Cadmium concentration was 14.70mg/kg, that is exceeded anxiety criteria. But all items in Sinsung coal mine was detected below criteria. 2) The heavy metals contamination of riverbed soil by gold mine showed higher than coal mine. 3) The heavy metals contamination in the vicinal paddy and dry field soil area was higher than other mine. Arsenic concentration was 29.29mg/kg, that is exceeded the anxiety criteria as 10.22mg/kg.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.239-244
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• 2014

BACKGROUND: Heavy metals contamination of soils in the vicinity of abandoned mines in South Korea has been investigated. However, PAHs contamination rarely has been studied. Both heavy metals and PAHs concentrations have been measured in this study. METHODS AND RESULTS: The samples of soil and sediment were collected from the vicinities of three abandoned coal mines and two abandoned metal mines for analysis of heavy metals contaminants and PAHs concentration from April to September 2012. After preparation of these samples following the Korean standard test method for soils, the concentrations of heavy metals contaminants and PAHs were measured using ICP-OES and GC-MS, respectively. It was observed that the concentration of Arsenic was above the concern level based on 'area 1' suggested by Korean soil conservation law, resulting that Arsenic is the main contaminant in these areas. Also Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn were observed as a partial contaminants. The concentrations of other investigated components including benzo(a)pyrene were less than the concern level. CONCLUSION: The correlation observed between Arsenic (as main contaminant) and PAHs concentrations suggested that the contaminant source and pathway are different for each other. The effect of mine activity on PAHs concentration was rarely observed.

• 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.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.799-811
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• 2019

The aim of this study was to evaluate heavy metal contamination and pollution index of agricultural soils around industrial complexes in the Jeon-Buk Regions of Korea. Soil samples near industrial complexes in 2017 were collected at two depths (0 - 15 and 15 - 30 cm) within a 500- and 1000-meter radius before planting. Eight heavy metals (Arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), Cupper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg) and zinc (Zn)) and the pollution index (PI), geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and soil pollution index (SPI) were evaluated based on soil contamination warning standard (SCWS). Overall, the heavy metal concentrations were below the SCWS. The PI ranged from 0.1 to 0.9 and categorized into Group 1 which is not polluted with any heavy metals. The average Igeo values of all the soil samples ranged from - 2.56 to 3.22. The Igeo values of Cd and Hg may not represent well the pollution index because the heavy metal concentrations in the soil is lower compared to the SCWS. In fact, based on the heavy metal concentrations, the Igeo for monitored soils should be categorized into Group 1, uncontaminated to moderately contaminated. However, the Igeo of Cd and Hg are classified into heavily contaminated. These results suggest that for calculating the Igeo, the heavy metal concentration and background concentration should be used very carefully if the heavy metal concentration in the soil is lower than the background concentration. SPI for all the soil samples ranged from 0.00 to 0.11 which indicates no heavy metal pollution was observed.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.259-268
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• 2022

In this study, seeds of Festuca ovina var. coreana growing in waste coal landfills exposed to heavy metal contamination for a long time were collected, and growth characteristics and heavy metal accumulation capacity were evaluated through greenhouse cultivation experiments with germinated seedlings, and was conducted for the applicability of phytoremediation technology. Concentration gradients of arsenic-treated artificial soil were 25, 62.5, 125, and 250 mg/kg, respectively, lead concentrations were 200, 500, 1000, and 2000 mg/kg, and cadmium concentrations were 15, 30, 60, and 100 mg/kg, respectively In the arsenic, lead, and cadmium-treated experimental groups, the number of leaves of F. ovina var. coreana decreased in all compared to the control group except for the lead-treated groups (200, 500, and 1000 mg/kg). Length growth of the shoot part was increased in all of the arsenic treatment groups compared to the control group, but decreased in all of the root parts. In the 1000 and 2000 mg/kg lead treatment groups, lengths increased compared to the control group, but in the other treatments, they were shorter than the control group. In the case of the cadmium treatment group, all of the shoot parts were increased compared to the control group, and all of the root parts were decreased. In the case of arsenic treatment, the biomass was decreased at all parts and all concentrations compared to the control group. The 200, 500, and 1000 mg/kg lead treatments showed larger biomass than the control group in both shoot and root parts. In the cadmium treatment group, the biomass of both shoot and root parts decreased compared to the control group. As the concentration of heavy metal treatment increased, both the number of leaves and the biomass by plant parts tended to decrease, and the length growth of the shoot part tended to increase slightly, but the root part tended to decrease slightly. The arsenic accumulation concentrations of the shoot and root parts of the 62.5 mg/kg arsenic treatment area were 9.4 mg/kg and 253.3 mg/kg, respectively. While the shoot part of the 250 mg/kg arsenic treatment area withered away, the arsenic accumulation concentration in the root part was analyzed to be 859.1 mg/kg, In the 2,000 mg/kg lead treatment area, the shoot and root parts accumulated 10,308.1 and 11,012.0 mg/kg, which were 1.1 times higher than the root parts. At 100 mg/kg cadmium treatment, the shoot and root parts were 176.0 and 287.2 mg/kg, and the root part accumulated 1.6 times higher than the shoot part. As a result of tolerance evaluation of F. ovina var. coreana, multi-tolerance to three heavy metals was confirmed by maintaining growth without dying in all treatment groups of arsenic, lead, and cadmium. Plant extraction (phytoextraction) of F. ovina var. coreana was verified as a species that can be applied up to 2,000 mg/kg of soil lead contamination.