• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.46-52
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• 2007

A toxicity method using bioluminescence producing bacteria, Escherichia coli DH5 RB1436, was developed and applied on solid environmental samples. In the assay, 1 g soil sample was mixed with 4 ml RB1436 strain. Sets amended with p-buffer were employed for control in soil test, showing approximately 108% of sets amended with combusted soils. Measurable differences were observed between relatively more polluted groups (HP) and less polluted groups (LP) of soil samples, showing average toxicity 43 and 26%, respectively, in direct soil toxicity test. $EC_{50}$'s for all soil groups appeared in the range of $1.8{\sim}4.6\;g$, but those of sediments from dam reservoir and refuses were below 0.22 g. This developed bioassay should prove useful as a screening test for toxicity in various types of environmental solid samples.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.75-95
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• 2012

BACKGROUND: Increase of heavy metals in agricultural ecosystem has become a social issue nationwide as it is related to public health. This review was performed to find out more systematic and integrated future researches on heavy metals using up to date articles published in the Korean journals related to agricultural environment. METHODS AND RESULTS: Researches on heavy metals in agricultural soils and plant uptake were categorized by the establishment of criteria, analytical methods, monitoring, management of source, characteristics and behavior in soil, plant uptake, bioavailability affecting physico -chemical properties in soil, risk assessment and soil remediation. In the early 1990s, the monitoring for heavy metals in soil has been widely performed. Accumulation of heavy metals in contaminated soil and availability to plants has also attracted interests to study the soil remediation using various physico-chemical methods. The phytoavailability and phytotoxicity of heavy metals have been mainly studied to assess the safety of agro-products using risk assessment techniques in the 2000s. CONCLUSION: Future direction of research on heavy metal in agricultural environment must be carried out by ensuring food safety and sustainability. A steady survey and proper management for polluted regions should be continued. Law and regulation must be modified systematically. Furthermore, studies should expand on mitigation of heavy metal uptake by crops and remediation of polluted fields.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.757-766
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• 2016

MTBE and other gasoline additives contained in gasoline are known to be a refractory substance resistant to biodegradation. As a method of removing these substances, a research of method using native microbes of polluted soil was progressed and among these, bio-degradation possibility under aerobic condition was evaluated. All of the experiments were progressed based on batch experiment of lab scale and analyzed by GC-FID using HS-SPME technique. The result of bio-degradation experiment based on MTBE and other additives(ETBE, TAME) was observed below 1 mg/L, which initial concentration were 100 mg/L for each method. And through production of by-product and CO2, partial mineralization was confirmed. Degradation velocity of each additive was promptly represented in the order of TBA>ETBE>MTBE>TAME. Through this study, bio-degradation possibility of native microbes of oil polluted soil, MTBE and other gasoline additives was confirmed and it was considered that the result could be used for basic experiment data in removing oil pollutants of soil.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.105-116
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• 1997

This study is for extent of polluted area by acid mine drainage from the Daeseong coal mine, Keumsan. Black shales of the Changri Formation containing the Daeseong coal mine are geochemically similar to those from the North America as well as Europe. Comparing with geochemical compositions and relative ratios, coal bearing and non-coal bearing soils are similar to the stream sediments influenced and not influnced by the acid mine drainage, respectively. These characteristics suggest that acidification of the soils and of the stream sediments are related to the the coal bearing black shale. Soil waters beneath the coal bearing soil have low pH and high cation contents than those beneath non-coal bearing soil, suggestive of extractions of cations with increasing oxidizations within the soils. Surface waters show that those influenced by the acid mine drainage are low pH, and have high $SO_4{^{2-}}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}$, Mn and slightly lower DO, suggesting that heavy pollutions have been progressed in these area. Geochemical comparisons between the polluted surface water and adjacent black shales suggest that pollutions of the surface water are related to the black shales.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.360-365
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• 2002

The variety and density of entomopathogenic nematodes from the polluted soils of heavy metals were examined. In order to investigate the pollution of heavy metals in soil, 300 sites in kyungsangbuk-do were collected from March to October in 2001. We measured the contents of seven heavy metal elements (Cd, Cu, As, Hg, Pb, Cr^{6+}$, CN) and than cheesed soil of 25 sites with high concentration of heavy metals. The seven strains of nematodes were isolated from seven samples by silkworm host (Bombyx mori mori) and white trap. Isolated nematodes are composed of two families, one order. The members of Rhabditida were isolated in the soil with mean Cd content of 0.870 ppm. And they were isolated in the soil samples with As content less than 0.745 ppm. However they were isolated regardless of concentration of Cu and Pb. The members of Cylindrocorpidae were isolated in the soil samples with Cr^{6+}$ content less than 0.05 ppm. Any entomopathogenic nematode was not detected in the CN polluted soil. Isolated nematodes successfully cultured on the silkworm host and were confirmed the pathogenicity, multiplicity, and tolerance against various condition of preservation. Which proved its potential usefulness as biological agent.

• 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.45 no.4
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• pp.565-571
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• 2012

This study was conducted to investigate the tolerance of some resistant fungal strains from soils contaminated with heavy metals. Various fungal strains were isolated from soil samples collected from studied sites which heavy metals and other pollutants have been emitted in effluents for several years. Fungi isolated belong to different genera; however, Penicillium spp. showed the most frequent species. The microbial number was remarkably higher in the control soil than contaminated soil samples collected from mining areas. $Pb^{2+}$ and $Zn^{2+}$ had the highest concentration in the polluted soils ranging from 89 - 3,521 ppm and 98 - 4,383 ppm, respectively. The minimum inhibition concentrations (MICs) of $Pb^{+2}$ and $Zn^{+2}$ showed the highest values against the fungal strains. $Ni^{+2}$ and $Co^{+2}$ were the lowest contaminants in the polluted soils with the concentration of 5 to 12.1 ppm and 1.8 to 4.8 ppm, respectively. The tested resistant strains showed the strongest inhibition for $Ni^{+2}$ and $Co^{+2}$ up to 200-400 ppm. Cadmium was the most highly toxic heavy metal for most of strains, however, 1 mM of $Cr^{3+}$, $Cu^{2+}$ and $Pb^{2+}$ accelerated the growth of Penicillium verrucosum KNU3. $Cu^{+2}$ and $Zn^{+2}$ at concentration of 1 mM did not affect the growth rate P. funiculosum KNU4. Tolerance of fungal species to heavy metals appears to be strain and origin dependent.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.86 no.4
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• pp.435-442
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• 1997

The research was carried out to investigate the contamination of stream water by the acid mine drainage originated from the abandoned coal mines and coal waste rock in Keumsan, Chungnam. The pH, sulfate and chemical compositions in the stream water were analyzed. At the polluted sites, the pH of stream water was the strong acid, ranging from 3.46 to 4.29. The pH shows negative correlations with sulfate, manganese, copper, zinc, iron and magnesium concentrations. Sulfate concentrations of the polluted stream water, 236.73-310.53mg/l, had 10 times more than those of the non-polluted stream water. The concentrations of heavy metals, Mn and Fe, in the polluted water were 0.56 - 0.83mg/l and 5.89 - 10.58mg/l, respectively. The Mn concentrations were 20 times higher than those of the non-polluted stream water. Compared with those in the non-polluted stream water, the Mg and Ca concentrations in the polluted stream water were high because of leaching from rock and soil to water by the acidifications. Calculated AMDI(Acid Mine Drainage Index) values are low in the polluted stream water, relative to those of the non-polluted water.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.45-55
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• 1996

Although the Dongjin Au-Ag-Cu mine had been abandoned since about forty years ago, the results of this study on the dispersion patterns and contamination level of heavy metals in the hydrologic system flowing via the waste rump show that the environmental impacts from the mine wastes are still significant. The stream water in the vicinity of the waste rump is severely acidified (pH 3.8 to 4.4) and highly enriched in various dissolved heavy metals. The heavy metal contents of the stream water and stream sediments are systematically attenuated with increasing distance from the mine area. However, it is worth to note that continuous attenuation of heavy metal contents in both media were reenriched in downstream area more than 800 m apart from the mine because it can be acted as a secondary source of heavy metal pollution. The heavy metals, especially Cd, Cu and Zn of polluted downstream sediments mainly occur in Fe-Mn oxides and organic materials, which indicates that these elements are the main pollutants from the waste rump of the Dongjin mine. The heavy metal contents of crops, such as sesame, perilla, red Pepper and brown rice, collected from the polluted farm land in the downstream area are lower than those of land plants from stream sides, but significantly higher in Cd, Cr, Cu and Zn than those from the unpolluted farm land. Especially, almost all of the crops in polluted farm land have been severly contaminated by Cd (>0.4 ppm). On the other hand, the heavy metal contents of the crops collected from refreshed farm land by means of a soil addition method shows significantly lowered level comparing with those of polluted area, which indicates that a soil addition method was effective for the refreshment of polluted farm land by toxic metallic pollutants. Wormwoods from this area showed very high contents in a11 the heavy metals even in unpolluted area (Cd > 1 ppm, Cr > 1 ppm, Cu > 11 ppm, Pb> 4 ppm, Zn > 55 ppm), indicating that a special caution must be payed when one takes ingest them.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.9-12
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• 2005

각기 다른 경로로 카드뮴에 오염된 두 토양에서 카드뮴을 중성인 물과 황산 수용액으로 용출하여 보았다. 토양은 자연에서 오랫동안 오염된 금속 폐 광산 토양과 한편으로는 오염되지 않은 토양을 인공적으로 오염시킨 것 두 가지를 재료로 사용하였다. 실험결과, 높은 카드뮴 농도에도 불구하고 자연오염 토양의 경우 추출용매가 물인 경우에는 카드뮴이 거의 용출되지 않았고 산 용액에서는 상대적으로 낮은 농도의 카드뮴이 꾸준히 용출되었다. 이에 반하여 인공오염토양의 경우 카드뮴의 용출량이 많아, 현실적으로 공장부지 등지에서 급격히 오염된 토양에는 산성비가 내릴 경우 카드뮴이 지하수를 오염시킬 위험성이 금속 폐광산등 자연적으로 오염된 토양에서보다 상대적으로 더 큰 것으로 나타났다. 특히 중성인 물에서도 인공오염토양 내 카드뮴의 초기 용출량이 크게 나타났는데, 이것은 공단부지 등에서 상대적으로 토양의 카드뮴 오염이 빠르게 진행된 지역의 지하수 등이 카드뮴 오염에 상대적으로 크게 노출되어 있음을 의미한다.