• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.85-91
• /
• 2018

Arsenic (As) usually is bound to amorphous iron oxides in the soils, and it can be removed via dissolution of iron oxides. Inorganic acid and chelating agent are widely used to extract As in the soil washing. However, the overall performance is highly dependent on the state of As fractionation. In this study, oxalic acid and inorganic acids (HCl, $H_2SO_4$, and $H_3PO_4$) were applied to enhance the dissolution of iron oxides for remediation of As-contaminated soils. Oxalic acid was most effective to extract As from soils and removal of As was two times greater than other inorganic acids. Additionally, 75% of As bound to amorphous iron oxides was removed by 0.2 M oxalic acid. Arsenic removal by oxalic acid was directly proportional to the sum of labile fractions of As instead of the total concentration of As. Therefore, the oxalic acid could extract most As bound to amorphous iron oxides.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.28-34
• /
• 2020

Nitrate released from chemical fertilizer, animal wastes, and synthetic detergents can cause methemoglobinemia to infants, thus the standard in drinking water is set to 10 mg/L as World Health Organization recommended. In this study, zero-valent iron-modified rice straw biochar was used to reduce and remove nitrate in the aqueous phase. The rice straw biochar was prepared by pyrolyzing the biomass at 700℃ for 3 hours, and the biochar was modified using 1 M Fe(III), and the Fe(III) on the biochar was reduced to zero-valent iron using sodium borohydride. The modified biochar removed nitrate effectively, which removed more than 91% of nitrate. For the synthetic groundwater, the nitrate removal was lowered to 82% due to the presence of other anions.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.74-84
• /
• 2018

Pot experiments were conducted to assess the applicability of ferric chloride ($FeCl_3$) as a washing agent for laboratory scale in-situ soil washing of paddy soil contaminated with Pb. During the monitoring period for nearly 90 days, the concentrations of Fe and Mn in the soil solution were lower than that of control soil due to lime ($Ca(OH)_2$) amendment for pH recovery. Lime amendment also affected solubility and fractionation of Pb into soil matrix. The result showed that Pb concentrations of soil solution were consistently lower than that of control soil, and the concentration in the exchangeable fraction in washed soil decreased from 13 to 2 mg/kg. There was no significant difference of biomass yield of rice plant in each pots, and Pb contents in rice roots and grains in washed soil decreased to 50 and 78%, respectively, of the control soil. Therefore, $FeCl_3$ could be used as an acceptable in-situ washing agent for agricultural paddy soil if appropriate soil pH management is subsequently practiced.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.313-324
• /
• 2011

The purpose of this study is to present the raw data for establishing the plan of top soil conservation in soil environment and preventing the soil loss by establishing the potential amount of soil loss using RUSLE. The results are as follows. To apply the RUSLE model, we calculated the potential amount of soil loss by using 5 factors; rainfall erosion factor(R), topographical factor(LS), soil erosion factor(K), land cover factor(C) and erosion control factor(P). The assessment map of soil loss was drawn up by classifying 5 grades. According to the soil loss estimation by the RUSLE, it showed that approximately 83.9% of the study area had relatively lower possibility of soil loss which was the 1 ton/ha in annual soil loss. Whereas, the 7.0% of the study area was defined as high risk area which was the 10 ton/ha in annual. Therefore, this area was needed that there was environment-friendly construction of farm land, improvement of cultivation environment and so forth. In future, if we will analyze the amount of soil loss of Gyeongju national park and Hyeongsan river watershed, we will offer the help to establishing the conservation plan of soil environment in Gyeongsangbuk-do.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.29-36
• /
• 2017

Universal soil loss equation (USLE) has been frequently employed to estimate potential soil loss in land since it was developed based on the statewide data measured and collected in the United States. The equation is an empirical model mainly used for U.S. soil, thus it has been recently modified to reflect Korean soil conditions and named as Korean Soil Loss Equation (KORSLE). The modified equation was implemented in ArcGIS software, and used for estimation of potential soil loss from 2003 to 2016 in the thirty-eight Water Protection Districts. Five out of the thirty-eight districts were identified as the area of potential soil erosion most severly. In those five districts, potential soil erosion were estimated to be more than 50 Mg/ha/year that requires site investigation under supervision of the Korean Ministry of Environment. Distinctive site characteristics were found in the potential soil loss estimation such that the districts of low potential soil loss had low five factors in the aggregate. However, if one of more factors are dominantly large, the potential soil loss significantly increased. This study provides a useful tool to identify the potential areas for soil erosion and the important factors that play an important role in the estimation process.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.46 no.6
• /
• pp.530-535
• /
• 2013

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of slurry composting and biofiltration (SCB) liquid manure application on shoot growth, fruit qualities and soil chemical properties in peach orchard. SCB liquid manure was fertigated ten times from April to October in SCB plot, whereas chemical fertilizer was treated two times as basal and additional fertilizers in control plot. The shoot growth, leaf nitrogen and potassium content, soil exchangeable K, fruit weight and yield were higher in SCB plot than in control. Soluble solid content and acidity, soil organic matter, soil available phosphate and soil exchangeable Mg showed no significant difference between treatments, and the leaf calcium and magnesium content were lower in SCB plot than in control. In conclusion, fertigating SCB liquid manure in peach orchard has positive effects on fruit weight and yield, and it is suggested that periodical soil testing is needed because of the possibility of K accumulation in SCB liquid manure treated soil when the orchard is fertigated based on the soil nitrogen content.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.63-74
• /
• 2022

In analyzing heavy metals in soil samples, the standard protocol established by Korean Minstry of Environment (KSTM) requires two different pretreatments (A and B) based on soil particle size. Soil particles < 0.15 mm in diameter after sieving are directly processed into acid extraction (method A). However, if the quantity of soil particles < 0.15 mm are not enough, grinding of the particles within 0.15 mm ~ 2 mm is required (method B). Grinding is often needed for some field samples, especially for the soil samples retrieved from soil washing process that contain relatively large-sized soil grains. In this study, two soil samples with different particle size distribution were prepared and analyzed for heavy metals concentrations using two different pretreatment to investigate the effect of grinding. The results showed that heavy metal concentrations tend to increase with the increase of the fraction of small-sized particles. In comparison of the two pretreatments, pretreatment A yielded higher heavy metal concentration than pretreatment B, indicating significant influence of grinding on analytical results. This results suggest that the analytical values of heavy metals in soil samples obtained by KSTM should be taken with caution and carefully reviewed.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.20-29
• /
• 2016

Although a number of chemical accidents have been occurred in South Korea, the effective prevention act for soil contamination has not been established so far. To effectively protect soil contamination from chemical accidents, decision support laws and regulations are absolutely essential. Regarding this situation, this study was aimed at diagnosing problems in current chemical safety management and prevention and response system against chemical accidents through analyzing the domestic and foreign causes of chemical accidents and the accident response procedures and finally suggesting policy measures for solving those problems. In order to clarify management of soil contamination by chemical accident, this study suggests the establishment of chemical accident preparedness, response, and making of local chemical management law and policy. This law needs to be supported by a clear management framework to guide government officials and all other stakeholders in the management of soil contamination by chemical accident.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.19 no.6
• /
• pp.72-79
• /
• 2014

Cavitation generated by ultrasonic irradiation can enhance the diffusional transport of organic contaminants from soil surfaces or pores. Therefore, ultrasound soil washing can be an alternative of traditional soil washing process. In this study, soil was artificially contaminated with n-tetradecane, n-hexadecane and phenanthrene. A plate type ultrasonic reactor at 25 kHz frequency and 1000W power was used for laboratory soil washing experiments. Ultrasonic soil washing efficiency was compared with those of traditional soil washing using mechanical mixing. Various operational parameter such as soil/liquid ratio, irradiation time, particle size, and soil organic matter content was tested to find out the optimum condition. It was found that ultrasonic soil washing demonstrates better performance than mechanical soil washing. Optimum soil:liquid ratio for ultrasonic soil washing was 1 : 5. Desorption of organic contaminants from soils by ultrasonic irradiation was relatively fast and reached equilibrium within 10 minute. However, decrease in the soil particle sizes by ultrasonic irradiation results in re-adsorption of contaminants to soil phase. It was also observed that soil particle size distribution and soil organic matter content have significant effects on the efficiency of ultrasonic soil washing.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.87-100
• /
• 2016

Biochar, which has high alkalinity, has widely studied for amendment of soil that contaminated with heavy metals. The aim of this study is assessment of amendment for arsenic and heavy metals contaminated acidic agricultural soil using biochar that derived from buffalo weed (A. trifida L. var. trifida). Pot experiments were carried out including analysis of soil solution, contaminants fractionation, soil chemical properties and plant (lettuce) uptake rate. Arsenic and heavy metals concentrations in soil solution showed relatively low in biochar added experiments when compared to the control. In the heavy metals fractionation in soil showed decrease of exchangeable fraction and increase of carbonates fraction; however, arsenic fractionations showed constant. Soil chemical properties indicated that biochar could induce recovery of soil quality for plant growth in terms of soil alkalinity. However, phosphate concentration in biochar added soil decreased due to Ca-P precipitation by exchangeable calcium from biochar. Arsenic and heavy metals uptake rate of plant in the amended experiment decreased to 50% when compared to the control. Therefore biochar derived from buffalo weed can be used as amendment material for agricultural soil contaminated with arsenic and heavy metals. Precipitation of As-Ca and metal-carbonates are major mechanisms for soil amendment using char.