• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.306-314
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• 2023

Stream sediments are an important component of water quality management because they are receptors of various pollutants such as heavy metals and organic matters emitted from upland sources and can be secondary pollution sources, adversely affecting water environment. To effectively manage the stream sediments, identification of primary sources of sediment contamination and source-associated control strategies will be required. We evaluated the performance of machine learning models in identifying primary sources of sediment contamination based on the physico-chemical properties of stream sediments. A total of 356 stream sediment data sets of 18 quality parameters including 10 heavy metal species(Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni, As, Zn, Cr, Hg, Li, and Al), 3 soil parameters(clay, silt, and sand fractions), and 5 water quality parameters(water content, loss on ignition, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, and total phosphorous) were collected near abandoned metal mines and industrial complexes across the four major river basins in Korea. Two machine learning algorithms, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and support vector machine (SVM) classifiers were used to classify the sediments into four cases of different combinations of the sampling period and locations (i.e., mine in dry season, mine in wet season, industrial complex in dry season, and　industrial complex in wet season). Both models showed good performance in the classification, with SVM outperformed LDA; the accuracy values of LDA and SVM were 79.5% and 88.1%, respectively. An SVM ensemble model was used for multi-label classification of the multiple contamination sources inlcuding landuses in the upland areas within 1 km radius from the sampling sites. The results showed that the multi-label classifier was comparable performance with sinlgle-label SVM in classifying mines and industrial complexes, but was less accurate in classifying dominant land uses (50~60%). The poor performance of the multi-label SVM is likely due to the overfitting caused by small data sets compared to the complexity of the model. A larger data set might increase the performance of the machine learning models in identifying contamination sources.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.255-264
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• 2012

The stabilization using limestone ($CaCO_3$) and steel making slag as the immobilization amendments for Cu and Pb contaminated farmland soils was investigated by batch tests, continuous column experiments and the pilot scale feasibility study with 4 testing grounds at the contaminated site. From the results of batch experiment, the amendment with the mixture of 3% of limestone and 2% of steel making slag reduced more than 85% of Cu and Pb compared with the soil without amendment. The acryl column (1 m in length and 15 cm in diameter) equipped with valves, tubes and a sprinkler was used for the continuous column experiments. Without the amendment, the Pb concentration of the leachate from the column maintained higher than 0.1 mg/L (groundwater tolerance limit). However, the amendment with 3% limestone and 2% steel making slag reduced more than 60% of Pb leaching concentration within 1 year and the Pb concentration of leachate maintained below 0.04 mg/L. For the testing ground without the amendment, the Pb and Cu concentrations of soil water after 60 days incubation were 0.38 mg/L and 0.69 mg/l, respectively, suggesting that the continuous leaching of Cu and Pb may occur from the site. For the testing ground amended with mixture of 3% of limestone + 2% of steel making slag, no water soluble Pb and Cu were detected after 20 days incubation. For all testing grounds, the ratio of Pb and Cu transfer to plant showed as following: root > leaves(including stem) > rice grain. The amendment with limestone and steel making slag reduced more than 75% Pb and Cu transfer to plant comparing with no amendment. The results of this study showed that the amendment with mixture of limestone and steel making slag decreases not only the leaching of heavy metals but also the plant transfer from the soil.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.129-135
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• 2012

This study was to investigate the heavy metal content of 55 commercial salts in the Seoul area. There were 22 types of solar sea salt, 17 types of processed salt and 16 types of reworked salt. Looked at another way, there were 22 types of domestic salt and 33 types of salt imported from France, the U.S., Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina. The samples were measured using both a mercury analyzer and an Inductively-Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES). The average heavy metal contents for commercial salts were Pb $0.281{\pm}0.344$, Cd $0.035{\pm}0.221$, Cr $0.364{\pm}0.635$, Cu $0.182{\pm}0.313$, As $0.046{\pm}0.062$, Ni $0.155{\pm}0.247$, Al $5.753{\pm}10.746$, Co $0.028{\pm}0.211$ and Hg $0.001{\pm}0.001$ mg/kg. The leads were detected highly in solar sea salt rather than in processed salt or reworked salt. Also chrome, arsenic and nickel were found more in processed salt. There were large differences in aluminum content between imported solar sea salt and processed salt. Aluminum was highly detected in French products, showing that salt can be affected by regional differences. The weekly average intakes of Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, and Hg from commercial salt were 1.652% (0.000~6.754), 0.372% (0.000~7.214), 3.177% (0.000~26.279), 0.008% (0.001~0.049), and 0.031% (0.000~0.094) respectively compared with Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intakes established by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee for the evaluation of food safety. The content of heavy metals from commercial salts was determined to be at safe levels.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.229-240
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• 2009

In Gosung, the symptoms similar to itai-itai disease from neighboring residents of the Samsanjeil mine have been social issues. Therefore, various researches on the behavior of heavy metals of the tailings impoundment of 280,000 ton in the Samsanjeil mine are required. In this paper, mineralogical and geochemical studies on the tailings at different depths in the Samsanjeil mine were investigated and the factors on the behavior of heavy metals were also studied. At two sampling sites (NN and SN), samples were collected at different depths down to 1 m. At NN sites, pH values decreased with depth, while those at SN sites did not show significant changes. XRD analysis showed that the main minerals in the tailings were quartz, microcline, muscovite, and chlorite with minor amount of gypsum. There were no noticeable changes in the mineral composition with depth. At NN sites, the amount of calcite was negligible, and jarosite, which usually occurs at acid soil or acid mine drainage at pH lower than 4, was identified. However, the samples at SN site contained relatively high contents of calcite with pyrite. Therefore, calcite seemed to buffer the acid and control pH at SN site. The contents of heavy metals in tailings were in the order of Cu > As > Zn > Pb > Co > Cr > Ni > Cd. The heavy metal concentrations in the tailings were closely related with pH changes. The concentrations of Cd and Co were much lower at NN site at which pH values are low than those at SN sites. Contrary to that, Cr and As which exist as oxyanions showed higher concentrations at SN sites. This result showed that the behaviors of heavy metals in our study area were controlled by pH which is influenced by the contents of calcite.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.108-116
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• 2013

BACKGROUND: Certain crop-based waste materials have been recognized as cost-effective and highly efficient adsorbents for removal and recovery of different kind of heavy metals from aqueous solutions. The ability is strongly attributed to the carboxyl functional group of some pectin substances such as galacturonic acid often found in fruit peels. The present manuscript was aimed at assessing the potential applicability of banana peel for metal removal from contaminated waters. METHODS AND RESULTS: As revealed by laboratory investigations, banana peel contains pectin (10-21%), lignin (6-12%), cellulose (7.6-9.6%), and hemicelluloses (6.4-9.4%). The pectin extraction is reported to have glucose, galactose, arabinose, rhamnose, xylose, and galactouroninc acid. Several studies conducted under different conditions proved that banana peel is capable of adsorbing 5.71, 2.55, 28.00, 6.88, 7.97, and 5.80 mg/g of $Cd^{2+}$, $Co^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, $Ni^{2+}$, $Pb^{2+}$, and $Zn^{2+}$, respectively, from aqueous solutions. Adsorption capacity is, however, dependent upon several factors including solution pH, dose of adsorbent and metal concentration, contact time and shaking speed. CONCLUSION(S): Since the annual world production of banana exceeds 100 million tons, about 40 million tons of banana peel (40% of total weight of the fresh fruit) remains vastly unused. Exploring a sound technology with banana peel would therefore, not only address the much needed sustainable tool for cleaning contaminated waters, but of course bring an additional value to the banana industry worldwide.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.271-282
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• 2020

Sewage treatment plants are social infrastructure of cities. The sewage distribution rate in Korea is reaching 94% based on the sewage statistics based in the year of 2017. In Korean sewage treatment plants, use of PAC (Poly Aluminum Chloride) accounts for 58%. It contains a large amount of impurities (heavy metal) according to the quality standards, however, there have been insufficient efforts to reinforce the standards or technically improve the quality, which resulted in secondary pollution problems from injecting excessive coagulant. Also, the increase in the use of chemicals is leading to the increases in the annual amount of sewage sludge generated in 2017 and the need to reuse sludge. As such, this study aims to verify the possibility of reusing sludge by evaluating the stability of heavy metals based on the injection of coagulant mixture during water treatment which uses the torrefield wood powder and natural materials, and evaluating the sedimentation and heating value of sewage sludge. As a result of analyzing heavy metals (Cr, Fe, Zn, Cu, Cd, As, Pb, and Ni) from the coagulant mixture and PAC (10%), Cr, Cd, Pb, Ni, and Hg were not detected. As for Zn, while its concentration notified in the quality standards for drinking water is 3 mg/L, only a small amount of 0.007 mg/L was detected in the coagulant mixture. Maximum amounts of over double amounts of Fe, Cu, and As were found with PAC (10%) compared to the coagulant mixture. Also, an analysis of sludge sedimentation found that the coagulant mixture showed a better performance of up to double the speed of the conventional coagulant, PAC (10%). The dry-basis lower heating value of sewage sludge produced by injecting the coagulant mixture was 3,378 kcal/kg, while that of sewage sludge generated due to PAC (10%) was 3,171 kcal/kg; although both coagulants met the requirements to be used as auxiliary fuel at thermal power plants, the coagulant mixture developed in this study could secure heating values 200 kal/kg higher than the counterpart. Therefore, utilization of the coagulant mixture for water treatment rather than PAC (10%) is expected to be more environmentally stable and effective, as it helps generating sludge with better stability against heavy metals, having a faster sludge sedimentation, and higher heating value.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.268-277
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• 2013

This study investigates the effects of accumulated levels of heavy metals and nutrients of cultivated soybean plant tissues, after the continuous application of sewage sludge (SS) and industrial sludge (IS). SS and IS were applied to soybean plants at loading of 0, 11.25, 22.50, and 45.00 Mg/ha, and the contents of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Ni, Cu, and Zn), proteins, and amino acids in the cultivated soybean plants were measured. The Cd content in the soybean was 0.02~0.05 mg/kg, which is within the safety level set in the standard, and that of Pb was 0.02~0.15 mg/kg, which is also within the safety level except for IS 45 Mg/ha. The soybean harvest quantity was higher in the treatment groups than the control group in the first year. However, in the second year, SS had lower harvest and IS had the same level or a decreasing tendency, compared with the control group. In the first year, the content of amino acid which followed handling of SS was increased in the sludge groups more than in the control group in the case of glutamate. However, the influence of continuous application was increased in the sludge groups in the case of amino acids of 12 types. In conclusions, the accumulation in soybean of heavy metals by sludge treatment is not a problem, but the decreased yields needs to be considered. In addition, the most appropriate level of sludge treatment was 11.25 Mg/ha.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2018

Objectives: This study set out to measure the heavy metal concentrations in waste water produced in the casting pickling process at dental technical laboratories and examine the actual state of its treatment. Methods:The investigator measured the concentrations of each heavy metal at 55 dental technical laboratories using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission system. Results: The annual usage of electrolytes was under 10 L in 50 (90.9%), and was 10L or more in five (9.1%) laboratories. Among the laboratories, 15 (27.3%) commissioned the treatment of waste,12 (21.8%) treated the waste with general sewage,and 28 (50.9%) treated the waste in aseptic tank. The arithmetic $mean{\pm}standard$ deviation and the geometric mean of chrome(Cr) were $75.3{\pm}50.9$ and 58.3 mg/L; those of cobalt (Co) were $112.3{\pm}106.7$ and 66.1 mg/L; those of nickel (Ni) were $62.9{\pm}83.5$ and 8.9 mg/L; those of molybdenum (Mo) were $17.1{\pm}13.4$ and 12.0 mg/L; those of iron (Fe) were $31.5{\pm}44.1$ and 6.2 mg/L; those of lead (Pb) were $0.3{\pm}0.3$ and 0.3 mg/L; those of beryllium (Be) were $3.6{\pm}3.6$ and 2.0 mg/L. The hydrogen ion concentration was under pH 2 across all the samples. Conclusions: The findings show that the dental technical laboratories were not doing well with the separation, storage, collection, and treatment of the electrolytes they discarded, and that most of the electrolytes were introduced through the general sewage or aseptic tank. The causes of this include alack of perception among the practitioners at dental technical laboratories and contracted companies avoiding collection for economic reasons. There is a need for education to improve the perceptions of waste water treatment among the practitioners at dental technical laboratories. Environment-related departments should be stricter with legal applications in the central and local governments. It is also required to provide proper management of commissioned treatment.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.39 no.3 s.178
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• pp.213-227
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• 2006

The geochemical evolution of mine drainage and leachate from waste rock dumps and stream water in Pb-As-rich abandoned Sechang mine area was investigated to elucidate mechanisms of trace metals. Total and sequential extractions were applied to estimate the distribution of trace metals in constituent phases of the waste rocks and to assess the mobility of trace metals according to physicochemical conditions. These discharged waters varied largely in chemical composition both spatially and temporally, and included cases with significant]y low pH (in the range 2.1-3.3), and extremely sulphate (up to 661 mg/l and metal contents (e.g. up to 169 mg/l for Zn, 27 mg/l for As, 3.97 mg/l for Pb, 2.99 mg/l for Cu, and 1.88 mg/l for Cd). Arsenic and heavy metal concentrations at the down-stream of Sechang mine have been decreased nearly to the background level in downstream sites (sites 8 and 16) without any artificial treatments. The oxidation of Fe-sulfides and the subsequent hydrolysis, of Fe(II), with precipitation of poorly crystallized minerals, constituted an efficient mechanism of natural attenuation which reduces considerably the transference of trace metals (i.e. Fe and As) to rivers. The dilution of drainage by mixing with pristine waters provoked an additional decrease of trace metal concentrations and a progressive pH increase. On the other hand, the most soluble cations (i.e. Zn) remained significantly as dissolved solutes until the pH was raised to approximately neutral values. With respect to ecotoxicity, it is likely that the Zn pollution is of particular concern in Sechang mine area. This was confirmed by the sequential extraction experiment, where Zn in wet waste-rock samples occurred predominantly in the exchangeable fraction (65-89% of total), while Pb was the highest in the reducible and carbonate fractions, and Cd, Cu and As in the residual fraction. Pb concentration in the readily available exchangeable fraction (34-48% of total) was dominated for dried waste rock samples. Considering the proportion of metals bound to the exchangeable and carbonate fractions, the comparative mobility of metals probably decreased in the order of Zn>Pb>Cd>As=Cu.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.149-157
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• 2003

This study focused on relationships between Pb and Cd concentrations and the difference of success reproductive progress in urban (Seoul) and industrial complex (Ansan) areas. Results of the Pb analysis for the feral pigeons from Seoul (egg contents:1.64 $\mu\textrm{g}$ wet $g^{-1}$, adults in bones: 29.5 $\mu\textrm{g}$ wet $g^{-1}$ and the Ansan industrial complex (egg contents: 1.13 $\mu\textrm{g}$ wet $g^{-1}$, adults in bones: 10.5 $\mu\textrm{g}$ wet g-1) showed that the Pb level of eggs and adults is significantly different between the two colonies (p<0.05). Cd concentrations in liver and kidneys of adult pigeons were also significantly different between Seoul(liver: 0.24 ${\mu}g$ wet $g^{-1}$, kidney: 1.05 $\mu\textrm{g}$ wet $g^{-1}$ and the Ansan (liver: 0.14 $\mu\textrm{g}$ wet $g^{-1}$, kidney: 0.43 $\mu\textrm{g}$ wet $g^{-1}$ colonies (P<0.05). Clutch size of Feral Pigeons living in Seoul was similar between the two colonies, 1.9$\pm$0.3 in Seoul and 2.0$\pm$0.0 in Ansan. The length, breadth, and thickness of eggs were not significantly different between the two colonies (p>0.05). Incubation period in Seoul (17.8 days) did not differ from the Ansan (17.4 days). No difference in growth rate (body weight, wing length, and tarsus length) was found between the two test groups (p>0.05). In Seoul, 65.2% were hatching, and 42.1% fledging. The Proportion of hatching and fledging in the Ansan was 60.7% and 45.0%, respectively. The significant differences between the two colonies for reproductive sucess were not found (p>0.05). With regard to the reproductive effects to the heavy metals, the Pb and Cd concentrations feund in the two colonies were not as high as those considered in results of toxic effects in other species.