• Proceedings of the Korea Society of Environmental Toocicology Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.170-170
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• 2003

An initial study has been conducted with Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral resources and National Institute of Environment Research to evaluate the distribution of radon levels and their risk levels of groundwater in Korea. Probability distribution of 616 samples was log-normal one with 1,867pCi/L as arithmetic value, 920pCi/L as median and 40,010pCi/L as maximum during iou. years(1999-2002). In addition, 10% of total samples are in excess of 4,000pCi/L, 20% in excess of 2,700pCi/L, and 30% in excess of 1,700pCi/L, and 15 samples exceeds 10,000pCi/L. Total samples are grouped into 10 areas and 5 rocks unit, and difference of concentrations among areas and rocks are statistically significant(respectively, p<0.0001). The highest area is Daejeon located in ogcheon metamorphic rocks and granitic rocks, and most of all sites with high concentration sites are located in granitic rocks. The lowest area is Jeju located in volcanic rocks. We have estimated excess cancer risks of radon based on these data. To estimate risks, first of all, use patterns of groundwater are categorized with 6 groups: for drinking, household, farming, washing cars, raising stock, and others. We considered risk only for drinking water and household water because radon is rapidly dispersed before it of other use reach human respiratory organs. We select 565 samples for risk analysis, and applied unit risk which is 6.6210-7 per pCi/L to be recommended by NAS committee. Unit risk was derived from considering radon ingestion and radon inhalation from water use. When estimating risk, we analyzed PDF of concentration and represented risk as 50 and 95 percentile values to consider uncertainty with Monte-Carlo simulation. It results in 10-4 level of their excess cancer risk and in 10-2 level in some areas with high concentration of radon. It must be monitor periodically and take adequate actions in these risky sites. We recommend that it needs to take more survey and finally set guideline for radon regulation in groundwater.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.75-80
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• 2007

This study evaluated groundwater quality around an uncontrolled landfill in W sity, Korea, which was monitored for about two years (2005-2006). Parameters of concern include redox-sensitive indicators such as pH, DO, EC, ORP, DOC (dissolved organic carbon), NH3, NO3 and SO4. About 10 years have elapsed after closing dumping of municipal wastes in the landfill. Leachates showed widely varying concentrations in COD(136${\sim}$263 mg/L), T-N(121${\sim}$186 mg/L), and NH3-N(14${\sim}$369 mg/L). Groundwater at the immediate downgradient of the landfill showed weakly acidic pH condition but very high levels of EC (3,000-4,000 ${\mu}S/cm$), which indicated that the groundwater was largely affected by the landfill leachate. Cl, a conservative ion, showed over 200 mg/L at the landfill border, but a gradually decreasing level with distance from the landfill, representing dispersion and dilution (natural attenuation) due to mixing with surrounding groundwater and replenished rainwater. Redox potential showed negative value at the landfill border but it increased up to 350 mV at downgradient wells, which indicated conversion of redox condition from reducing oxic ones. Ammonia, was largely enriched at most of the monitoring wells and its level greatly exceeded drinking water standard. In summary, all the parameters evidenced occurrence of natural attenuation with distance and with time but further monitoring is still required.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.655-666
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• 2020

This study evaluated the characteristics of arsenic production in groundwater through microbial community analysis of groundwater contaminated with high arsenic in Haman area. Groundwater in Haman area is contaminated with arsenic in the range of 0-757.2 ㎍/L, which represents the highest arsenic contamination concentration reported in Korea as natural groundwater pollution source. Of the total 200 samples, 29 samples (14.5%) showed higher arsenic concentration than that of 10 ㎍/L, which is the standard for drinking water quality, and 8 samples (4%) found in wells with 80-100 m depth were above 50 ㎍/L. In addition, seven wells with arsenic concentration more than 100 ㎍/L located in the northern part of Haman. As a result of microbial community analysis for high arsenic-contaminated groundwater, the microbial community compositions were significantly different between each sample, and Proteobacteria was the most dominant phyla with an average of 61.5%. At the genus level, the Gallinonella genus was predominant with about 12.8% proportion, followed by the Acinetobacter and Methermicoccus genus with about 7.8 and 7.3%, respectively. It is expected that high arsenic groundwater in the study area was caused by a complex reaction of geochemical characteristics and biogeochemical processes. Therefore, it is expected that the constructed information on geochemical characteristics and microbial communities through this study could be used to identify the origin of high arsenic groundwater and the development of its controlling technology.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.81-90
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• 2010

In this study, primary investigation for evaluation of abandoned metal mine effect on watershed has been done. 64 abandoned mines have been selected for primary investigation through literature and field survey. 216 soil and 90 water samples were collected and metal pollution concentrations were analyzed. 24 mines have mine water in the pits and acid water below pH 5 was not observed. Soils from 35 mines were over the soil basis of concern and 16 mines were over the soil basis of action. Arsenic average concentration was 188 times of average concentration of the natural background. Drinking water samples from 3 mines were over the drinking water standard and surface water samples from 12 mines were over the river water standard. Integrated pollution index, which was resulted from the integration of field survey, soil and water pollution concentration, showed that, abandoned metal mines had affected on watershed greatly in the order of Samgeum, Daedeok, Cheongdalgeum, Heungsin, Yeongdae and Myeongbong mines.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.19-31
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• 2011

This study had been carried out to investigate spatial and temporal variations of the concentrations of trace metals for contaminated surface water in creek affected by leachate from the tailings impoundment of the Yeonhwa II mine for about 2 years. It was also to ascertain the metal removal efficiency for potentially deleterious metals by the artificial and natural attenuation processes such as retention ponds and hydrologic mixing of uncontaminated tributaries. The concentrations of As, Pb, Cd, and Cu for leachate in the rainy season were not detected. On the other hand, the concentrations of Zn, Fe, Mn, Al, and $SO_4^{2-}$ in the rainy season for leachate were 2-66 times higher than those in the dry season, due to the oxidation of the sulfide minerals and the dissolution of the secondary minerals. The concentrations of Zn and Cd for leachate and surface water of the upper creek in the rainy season exceeded the criteria of River Water Quality and Drinking Water Quality but in the dry season, those of analyzed all the metals (As, Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Cd, Fe, Mn, and Al) for surface water sampled at the study area were below the criteria of River Water Quality and Drinking Water Quality. In regard of the attenuation efficiency for the concentrations of metals, Fe, Mn, Al, Zn, Cd, As, and Cu were removed highly at retention ponds, while the removal efficiency for major cations and sulfate ($SO_4^{2-}$) were related to mixing of the uncontaminated tributaries. Therefore, the major attenuation processes of the metal and sulfate contents in creek affected by leachate from a tailing dump were precipitation (accompanied by metal co-precipitation and sorption), water dilution, and neutralization.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.513-524
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• 2020

Objective: The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the environmental and biological exposure of local residents who consumed arsenic-contaminated drinking water for less than one year. Methods: As a part of water quality inspections for small-scale water supply facilities, surveys were conducted of residents of two villages that exceeded the arsenic threshold for drinking water. The environmental impact survey consisted of surveys on water quality, soil, and crops in the surveyed area. Biological monitoring was performed by measuring the separation of arsenic species in urine and total arsenic in hair. Results: In the results of biological monitoring, the concentrations of AsIII and AsV were 0.08 and 0.16 ㎍/L, respectively. MMA and DMA were 0.87 and 36.19 ㎍/L. There was no statistically significant difference between the group who drank arsenic-removed groundwater or water from the small-scale supply facility and the group who drank tap water, purified water, or commercial bottled water. Some of the water samples exceeded the arsenic threshold for drinking water. There were no samples in the soil or rice that exceeded the acceptable threshold. Conclusion: In the case of short-term exposure to arsenic-contaminated drinking water for less than one year, there were no significant problems of concern from the evaluation of biological monitoring after arsenic was removed.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.533-545
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• 2015

Spatial and seasonal variations in hydrogeochemical characteristics and the factors affecting the deterioration in quality of shallow portable groundwater in an agricultural area are examined. The aquifer consists of (from the surface to depth) agricultural soil, weathered soil, weathered rock, and bedrock. The geochemical signatures of the shallow groundwater are mostly affected by the NO₃⁻ and Cl⁻ contaminants that show a gradual downward increase in concentration from the upper area, due to the irregular distribution of contamination sources. The concentrations of the major cations do not varied with the elapsed time and the NO₃⁻ and Cl⁻ ions, when compared with concentrations in background groundwater, increase gradually with the distance from the upper area. This result suggests that the water quality in shallow groundwater deteriorates due to contaminant sources at the surface. The contaminations of the major contaminants in groundwater show a positive linear relationship with electrical conductivity, indicating the deterioration in water quality is related to the effects of the contaminants. The relationships between contaminant concentrations, as inferred from the ternary plots, show the contaminant concentrations in organic fertilizer are positively related to concentrations of NO₃⁻, Cl⁻, and SO₄²⁻ ions in the shallow portable groundwaters, which means the fertilizer is the main contaminant source. The results also show that the deterioration in shallow groundwater quality is caused mainly by NO₃⁻ and Cl⁻ derived from organic fertilizer with additional SO₄²⁻ contaminant from livestock wastes. Even though the concentrations of the contaminants within the shallow groundwaters and the contaminant sources are largely variable, it is useful to consider the ratio of contaminant concentrations and the relationship between contaminants in groundwater samples and in the contaminant source when analyzing deterioration in water quality.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.44-51
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• 2010

Contamination of groundwater from point and non-point sources is one of major problems of water resource manangement in Jeju island. This study characterized groundwater and soil contamination in Hallim area which is one of the areas of significantly contaminated soil and groundwater in Jeju Island. The amount of loaded contaminant (ALC) of Jeju area was estimated as 13,212 ton N/yr and 3,210 ton P/yr, The ALC of Hallim area was amounted to 2,895 ton N/yr and 1,102 ton P/yr, which accounted for 21.9% and 34.3% of the Jeju's ALC, respectively. The soil pH values (5.6-5.9) were not much different in land use areas. By contrat, average cation exchange capacity (CEC) of 14.1 $cmol^+/kg$ was high comparing to the nationwide range of 7.7-10.9 $cmol^+/kg$. Further, Sodium adsorption ratios (SARs) of horse ranch, pasture, and cultivating land for livestock were as high as 0.19, 0.17, and 0.16 respectively, comparing to the other landuse areas. Nitrate nitrogen at 22.2% of total groundwater wells exceeded 10 mg/L (the criteria of nitrate nitrogen for drinking water), averaginged 6.62 mg/L with maximum 28.95 mg/L. Groundwater types belonged to Mg-$HCO_3$, Na-$HCO_3$, Ca-$HCO_3$, and Na-Cl, among which Mg-$HCO_3$ type occupied more than 70% of the total samples, indicating the presence of anthropogenic sources. The concentration of nitrate nitrogen was negatively related to altitude and well depth, and positively related to the concentration of Ca, Mg, and $SO_4$ which might originate from chemical fertilizer. The ratio of nitrogen isotopes was estimated as an average of 8.10$^{\circ}/_{\circ\circ}$, and the maximum value of 17.9$^{\circ}/_{\circ\circ}$. According to the nitrogen isotope ratio, the most important nitrogen source was assessed as chemical fertilizer (52.6%) followed by sewage (26.3%) and livestock manures (21.1%).

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2010

The geochemical and nitrogen isotopic analyses for shallow groundwater of Ogcheon area were carried out to characterize the geochemical characteristics of the groundwater and to identify the source of nitrate. Groundwater shows a neutral pH to weakly alkalic condition with pH values ranging from 6.9 to 8.4. The average of EC, Eh and DO is $344.2\;{\mu}s/cm$, 195 mV, 4 mg/L, respectively. According to piper diagram, chemical composition of groundwater is dominantly characterized by Ca-$HCO_3$ type. On the other hand, groundwater type in the study area include Ca-Cl+$NO_3$ type that were highly influenced by agricultural activities. $NO_3$-N concentration of the collected samples(n=45) range from 12.4 to 34.2 mg/l. These data show that the $NO_3$-N concentration exceeds Korea Drinking Water Standard (10 mg/l). The $\delta^{15}N-NO_3$ values range from $2.7^{\circ}/_{\circ\circ}$ to $18.8^{\circ}/_{\circ\circ}$. The enrichments of heavy isotope in the groundwater indicate that major origin of nitrate pollution were associated with animal and human waste. Also the denitrification may have partly contributed as one of the sources of nitrogen.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.37 no.6 s.169
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• pp.657-667
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• 2004

Arsenic was detected in the 29 water samples out of the 46 groundwaters located in the Ulsan metropolitan area and it's concentration ranges from $<0.1\;to\;72{\mu}g/L$. Among them the arsenic concentrations of three samples are over domestic drinking-water requirements $(50{\mu}g/L)$, and those of 10 samples are more than WHO MCLs, $10{\mu}g/L.$. High arsenic groundwater were recognized in the two region; one was near the tectonic line, especially Ulsan iron mine at Dalcheunri and the other was around Hyomundong distributed Jeongia conglomerate. It is estimated that the former is originated from pyrite oxydation type, oxygenated redox, whilst the latter is resulted from oxidation of reducted FeOOH. The species of arsenic in groundwater is in pentavalent arsenic, $H_2AsO_4^-,\;HAsO4_^{-2}$ near tectonic line, and trivalent arsenic, $H_3AsO_3$ around Hyomundong.