• Mycobiology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.277-282
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• 2016

In this study, we collected rhizosphere soils and root samples from a post-mining area and a natural forest area in Jecheon, Korea. We extracted spores of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) from rhizospheres, and then examined the sequences of 18S rDNA genes of the AMF from the collected roots of plants. We compared the AMF communities in the post-mining area and the natural forest area by sequence analysis of the AMF spores from soils and of the AMF clones from roots. Consequently, we confirmed that the structure of AMF communities varied between the post-mining area and the natural forest area and showed significant relationship with heavy metal contents in soils. These results suggest that heavy metal contamination by mining activity significantly affects the AMF community structure.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.209-218
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to accumulation of the heavy metals by riparian vegetation throughout analysis of the heavy metal concentration in riparian vegetation, water, and sediment near mine drainage. According to analyzing concentration of the heavy metals in riparian vegetation, water, and sediment the heavy metal was indicated at the leaf significantly. Compared with the concentration of sediment soil, the maximum concentration of the As, Cd, CN, Pb, Zn was higher 2.6, 2.6, 25, non-detect, and 15 times in leaf. Also those concentration have 9.6, 16.6, 25, 1.6, and 25 times in root. As the results, the author can know the sediment has a very relative to vegetation in mine drainage. because, the increasing of concentration of heavy metal in sediment gives the more accumulative concentration of heavy metal in vegetation. Compared with the concentration of conta minated site and non-contaminated site. As, Cd, CN, Pb, Zn the maximum concentration in sediment soil was higher 5.7, 258.1, 10.9, 370.0, and 298.3 times respectively. In case of vegetation, the maximum concentration of the As, Cd, CN, Pb, Zn was higher 5.6, 62.3, 5.0, non-detect, and 30.6 times in leaf. Also those concentration have 8.5, 63.3, 2.6, 60.7, and 62.1 times in root. In this study, the author can surmise that there indicated a lot of adsorption with the heavy metal concentration in contaminated mine drainage.

• 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 Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.87 no.3
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• pp.466-474
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• 1998

This study was conducted to evaluate heavy metal concentrations(Cd, Cu, Z, and Pb) in the soil of two zinc mines and to correlate heavy metal contents between the soils and trees growing near the mines. Soils and leaves, stems, and roots of five tree species(Corylus heterophylla, Pinus rigida. Populus alba${\times}$glandulosa, Rhododendron mucronulatum, and Robinia pseudoacacia) were collected from Sambo Zinc Mine located in Hwasung and Gahak Zinc Mine in Kwangmyung city in Kyonggido. Soils near two zinc mines were not seriously contaminated by heavy metals, but Zn and Pb concentrations were at toxic level. The heavy metal concentration in soils decreased in the order of Zn, Pb, Cu, and Cd, and decreased with increasing distance from zinc mining sites. Among the five tree species, Populus alba ${\times}$ glandulosa showed the highest heavy metal concentrations in the tissue except for Pb. Particulars, leaves of the species contained the high concentrations of heavy metals to reach the maximum of 91ppm Zn. The roots of Corylus heterophylla contained high concentrations of Cu and Pb. The order of heavy metal concentrations in the tree species was Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd. The concentration of heavy metals in the tree tissues showed a positive correlation with that in soil in which trees are growing. The ratio of heavy metal concentration of trees to that of soils(concentration factor : CF) was highest in Zn and lowest in Pb. Populus alba${\times}$glandulosa had the highest CF value among the five tree species. It was concluded that Populus alba${\times}$glandulosa, based on the high metal uptake ability, could be used for decontaminating of heavy metals from contaminated soils, and Pinus rigida could be used to reflect the level of contamination in soils.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.47-57
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• 2006

This study was carried out to select the Eco-tree for successful phytoremediation of abandoned metalliferous mines. We examined vegetation and heavy metal concentrations of woody plants in abandoned mining areas, and also conducted seed germination and seedling growth experiment on contaminated soils from Gahak and Geumjeong mines. Pinus densiflora, Robinia pseudoacacia, Lespedeza bicolor and Alnus japonica showed high frequency in the survey areas and had high heavy metal concentrations compared to other species. Heavy metal concentrations were higher in roots than in leaves and stems. The seed germination rate was in the order of P. densiflora, L. bicolor, R. pseudoacacia, and Alnus japonica from the incubactor and greenhouse experiment. In the incubator experiment germination rate was highest in the control soil for P. densiflora and A. japonica. Germination rate of P. densiflora was highest on the 100% contaminated soil for Gahak mine while germination rate decreased with increased percentage of contaminated soil for Geumjeong mine. In the greenhouse experiment germination rate was lowest on the 40% contaminated soil for Gahak mine while germination rate was lowest on the 20% contaminated soil for Geumjeong mine and increased with increased percentage of contaminated soil. Shoot growth was highest for L. bicolor while root growth was highest for R. pseudoacacia except for 20% contaminated soil in Geumjeong mine.

• 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 Weed Science
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.17-24
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• 2010

Field study to find appropriate species for phytoremediation and phytomonitoring with higher plants was carried out at four abandoned metalliferous mines. In order to know the tolerant degree of plant resources collected at heavy metal polluted sites, soil and plants were sampled at same sites and metal concentrations were determined. Most serious heavy metal polluted in the sites was As that showed range from 29.1 to 1372.2 mg $kg^{-1}$ in investigated area. The dominant species were Oenothera biennis, Commelina communis, Persicaria senticosa, Conyza annuus, Artemisia princeps, and Erigeron canadensis. These species were predominant species that were proliferated in any survey area. Compared with other sites, vegetational characteristics of Dal-Seong, a mine site abandoned early in 1973, showed higher diversity index and lower dominance index. Distributions of weed species according to life cycle indicated that the proportions of perennial plants were lowered in every investigated site. Although the polluted areas were distant from each other, similarity indices among these vegetation were relatively similar. These results means the vegetations of abandoned mine areas were beginning stage of vegetational succession, and the vegetations were adversely affected by disturbance with heavy-metals and lack of water in soil.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.35-48
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• 2004

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of geochemical approaches for investigating and assessing heavy metal contamination in abandoned mine sites. Major sources of contaminants at the abandoned mine sites are mine water, waste rocks, tailings, and chemicals used in beneficiation and mineral processing. Soil, sediment, surface and ground water, and ecological system can be contaminated by heavy metals, which are transported due to erosion of mine waste piles, discharge of acid mine drainage and processed water, and dispersion of dust from waste rocks and tailings. The abandoned mine sites should be characterized using various methods including chemical analysis, mineralogical analysis, acid generation prediction tests, leaching/extraction tests, and field tests. Potential and practical environmental impacts from the abandoned mines should be assessed based on the site characterization.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.66-74
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• 2016

Environmental pollution from abandoned metal mines has been awarded as serious problem and many techniques have been applied to remediate pollutants. Main objective of this research was to evaluate efficiency of heavy metal sorption capacity of spent mushroom media (SMM) in aqueous and soil matrix. Laboratory batch experiment was conducted and 4 different heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn) were evaluated. In aqueous phase, all 4 heavy metals showed high reduction efficiency ranged from 60-99% and Pb showed the highest sorption efficiency. In case of soil phase, much lower sorption efficiency was observed compared to aqueous phase. The highest reduction efficiency was observed in Cd (average of 38%). With scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive detector (SED-EDS) analysis, we confirmed sorption of heavy metals at the surface of SMM. Overall, SMM can be used as sorption materials for heavy metals in both aqueous and soil matrix and more research should be conducted to increase sorption efficiency of SMM in soil.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.561-568
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• 2019

Objectives: The most commonly detected heavy metals in rocks and soils, including Pb, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn and As, are representative pollutants discharged from abandoned mines and have been listed as potential sources of contamination in drinking water. This study focused on increasing the removal efficiency of heavy metals from drinking water resources by surface modification of natural adsorbents to reduce potential health risks. Methods: Iron oxide coating and graft polymerization with zeolites and talc was conducted for bipolar surface modification to increase the combining capacity of heavy metals for their removal from water. The removal efficiency of heavy metals was measured before and after the surface modification. Results: The removal efficiency of Pb, Cu, and Cd by surface modified zeolite showed 100, 92, and 61.5%, respectively, increases compared to 64, 64, and 38% for non-modified zeolite. This implies that bipolar surface modified natural adsorbents have a good potential use in heavy metal removal. The more interesting finding is the removal increase for As, which has both cation and anion characteristics showing 27% removal efficiency where as non-modified zeolite showed only 2% removal. Conclusions: Zeolite is one of the most widely used adsorptive materials in water treatment processes and bipolar surface modification of zeolite increases its applicability in the removal of heavy metals, especially As.