• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 1997

This paper examines the influences of mining activities on the concentrations of heavy metals in soils in the vicinity of the Dalsung Cu-W mine, Korea. Geochemical surveys were undertaken in the Dalsung mine area and sampling of surface and subsurface soils was carried out. Samples were prepared using 0.1 N HCI, HNO$_3$-HClO$_4$, and aqua regia, and analyzed for Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. In addition, soil samples were sequentially extracted to investigate the chemical speciation of heavy metals in soils. Heavy metals are highly contaminated in soils in the vicinity of mining area ranging up to 28 $\mu\textrm{g}$/g Cd, 5000 $\mu\textrm{g}$/g Cu, 2390 $\mu\textrm{g}$/g Pb and 930 $\mu\textrm{g}$/g Zn by the method using HNO$_3$-HClO$_4$. The pollution indices calculated with the permissible levels are up to 49 in surface and subsurface soils, which are considered sufficient to raise environmental problems. However, the heavy metal levels by the method using 0.1 N HCl are not higher than Korean standard for soil contamination. It suggests that analytical methods and soil standard should be re-examined. From the results of the sequential extraction methods for metal speciation, total Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations may be determined by analytical methods using HNO$_3$-HClO$_4$ or aqua regia, and exchangeable phase of those metals by the method using 0.1 N HCl.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.373-378
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• 2019

In the marine area, the salt concentration in the soil increases, and the inland heavy metal pollution increases the damage of plants. In the inland industrial development area, researches on the genetic resources of plants together with the heavy metal accumulation of Co, Ni, Zn, and so on are required. Both of these problems have caused scientists to work hard to find plants that are likely to cause stress in plant roots. In this study, seeds of Arabis stelleri var. japonica collected near the shore were used for germination. The growth and development and tolerance of both Arabis and Arabidopsis seeds were investigated under laboratory culture conditions. As a result, Arabis showed resistance about 3 times in 250 mM nickle and cobalt, and more than 4 times in 1 mM zinc when compared to Arabidopsis. The tolerance of Arabis to Na salts increased by 20% or more at 50 mM concentration and Arabis was resistant to heavy metals and salt concentration. The accumulation of Na ions in the body was measured as a preparation for studying the intracellular mechanism. As a result, it showed a further decrease in resistance to ground water roots. It is considered that the activity of the exporting gene is important rather than the mechanism of accumulation.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.157-165
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• 2006

The present study was conducted to confirm that a bivalve Ruditapes philippinarum can be used as a biomarker for the monitoring of the heavy metal pollution in the silt of the marine environment. The clams were collected from the silt of Cheonsu-bay, Buheung-ri, and Tan-island of the West Sea, Korea. To observe the normal structures of the target organs (hepatopancreas and gill), they were dissected out for the immunohistochemical study and the electron microscopy with TEM, SEM, and SEM-EDS. The immunohistochemical study showed that the interdiverticular connective tissues of the hepatopancreas, and the outer epithelium of the gill lamellae was strongly reacted to anti-metallothionein (MT), indicating the presence of MT, a metal-binding protein, involved in metal detoxifying process. According to the examinations under the TEM, the epithelial cells of the hepatopancreas of the clams collected from polluted area (Tan-island) showed certain changes such as swollen rER, swollen nuclear envelope and inclusion bodies in the nulcei. In the SEM-EDS analysis, tissue of the hepatopancreas showed relatively higher concentration of S, Zn, and Cd. These elements are supposed to be concerning with the MT-reaction in the hepatopancreas. Considering that the coastal bivalve R. philippinarum showed immediate subcellular responses to heavy metal pollution in the overall experiments conducted, this species might act as one of efficient biomarkers for the heavy metal contamination in the marine environment.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.20 no.2 s.49
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• pp.179-186
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• 2005

Particulate materials (PM) less than 10 ${\mu}m$ in diameter are of special interest in air pollution because they are respirable and responsible for the increasing mortality rate of lung cancer and cardiovascular diseases. These particles are often referred to as $PM_{10}$ and they are divided into a coarse fraction and a fine fraction which is also often referred to as $PM_{25}$. In this study, we monitored the TSP, $PM_{10},\;PM_{2.5}$ concentration of ambient air collected in northern part of Seoul in early spring and measured the concentration of heavy metals; Cr, Mn, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb. All the heavy metals were found in the collected particles and the concentrations were variable in the $PM_{10},\;and\;PM_{2.5}$ respectively. The detected concentration ranges were Cr: $ND\~2,889ng/m^3,\;Mn:2.4\~257.9ng/m^3,\;Zn:ND\~353.7ng/m^3,\; As:ND\~22.3ng/m^3,\;Cd:0.1\~2.9ng/m^3,\;and\;Pb:ND\~392.2ng/m^3$ in fine particles. Heavy metal toxicity of the particles were also tested in $H_9C_2$ cell line derived from rat cardiomyocytes. As for the results of health risk assessment calculated by unit risk of IRIS, heavy metals in ambient air of Seoul metropolitan area were found to be responsible for the increase of total excess cancer risk. Among them, chromium (hexavalent) was found to be the most risky in fine particles of ambient air collected in the northern part of Seoul in early spring.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.125-133
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• 2016

We investigated the distribution of organic matter and trace metals in surface sediment from Tonyeong coast. To determine the status of trace metal pollution, we also conducted an ecological risk assessment. Relatively high concentration of TN (total nitrogen), TOC (total organic carbon), and AVS (acid volatile sulfide) was found in surface sediment located in the narrow channel (site 35-38). Spatial distribution of Cd, Cr, Ni, Co, Hg, and Zn in surface sediment was similar and high Cu concentrations were found in narrow channel. The assessment of heavy metal pollution was derived using the Enrichment factors (EF). The enrichment factor indicated that Cd was no enrichment (EF<1), Pb, Cr, Ni, Co, Zn, and Hg were minor enrichment (1

• Toxicological Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of metal pollution in the sediment from rivers, lakes, and streams in active gold mining districts in Ghana. Two hundred and fifty surface sediment samples from 99 locations were collected and analyzed for concentrations of As, Hg, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni, and Mn using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). Metal concentrations were then used to assess the human health risks to resident children and adults in central tendency exposure (CTE) and reasonable maximum exposure (RME) scenarios. The concentrations of Pb, Cd, and As were almost twice the threshold values established by the Hong Kong Interim Sediment Quality Guidelines (ISQG). Hg, Cu, and Cr concentrations in sediment were 14, 20, and 26 times higher than the Canadian Freshwater Sediment Guidelines for these elements. Also, the concentrations of Pb, Cu, Cr, and Hg were 3, 11, 12, and 16 times more than the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) sediment guideline values. The results of the human health risk assessment indicate that for ingestion of sediment under the central tendency exposure (CTE) scenario, the cancer risks for child and adult residents from exposure to As were $4.18{\times}10^{-6}$ and $1.84{\times}10^{-7}$, respectively. This suggests that up to 4 children out of one million equally exposed children would contract cancer if exposed continuously to As over 70 years (the assumed lifetime). The hazard index for child residents following exposure to Cr(VI) in the RME scenario was 4.2. This is greater than the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) threshold of 1, indicating that adverse health effects to children from exposure to Cr(VI) are possible. This study demonstrates the urgent need to control industrial emissions and the severe heavy metal pollution in gold mining environments.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.336-347
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• 1985

Soils and rice plants subject to smoke from the Jang-hang Smelter were samples at two depths to assess the nature and extend of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn contamination, particularly with respect to distance from pollution source. Soils at east site within 1km of the center of the smelter were highly contaminated with Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn. Metal levels in the smoke-polluted area were higher in surface soil than in subsurface soil, and decreased rapidly with distance reaching nearly background levels at 5km from pollution source. A position correlation was found between contents of total and 0.1 N HCl-extractable, or 1.0N $CH_3COONH_4$- extractable heavy metals in surface soils of pollution. Contents of heavy metals in soils were positively correlated with soil organic matter and cation exchange capacity. The contents of heavy metals in brown rice collected from the paddy field around the Jang-hang Smelter were in the range of 0.23-1.33 ppm for Cd, 2.39-6.25 for Cu, 0.95-8.32 ppm for Pb and 14.60-27.31 for Zn. The contents of Cd, Cu, and Zn in rice straw were positively correlated with those in the brown rice. Negative correlation was found between the contents of Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn in brown rice and the distance from the source.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.67-82
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• 2002

Objectives: In recent years, extensive focus has been laid on adulteration of herbal medicine with heavy metals. This may be mainly due to soil contamination by environmental pollution. The objective of this study is to identify the contents of various heavy metals in the blood from Ohjeok-san (Wuji-san) Decoction (OD) treated-rats. Methods: For this study, 13 kinds of metals including essential and heavy metals, i.e. A1, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn were analyzed by a slight modification of EP A methods and the following results are obtained. Results: 1. There was no significant difference between the OD-treated groups and control group in liver, kidney, bone, brain and weight, especially no significant difference at the 5th and 10th days in weight and the amount of food intake. 2. The amount of each metal analyzed in the blood were as follows; A1: 2.3~3.07 mg/l, As: 2.90~3.66 mg/l, Cd: 0~0.001 mg/l, Co: 0~0.01 mg/l, Cr: 0.40~043 mg/l, Cu: 0.93~1.88 mg/l, Fe: 414.35~464.46 mg/l, Hg: 0.01 mg/l, Mn: 0.10~0.17 mg/l, Ni: 0.01 mg/l, Pb: 0.03~012 mg/l, Se: 0.73 mg/l, Zn: 3.41~4.13 mg/l by groups, respectively. In control and experimental group, Experimental I and other experimental II, III, IV, and V groups, there were no significant differences. 3. The amount of non-toxic metals (A1, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Se, Zn) were $64.1{\pm}7.71{\;}mg/l$ in the control group and 60.70~67.58 mg/l in the experimental groups I, II, III, IV and V. The amount of Toxic metals (As, Cd, Cr, Ag, Pb) were $0.68{\pm}0.21{\;}mg/l$ in the control group and 0.57 ~ 0.66mg/l in the experimental groups. The total amount of metals were 32.35 mg/l in the control group and 30.48~34.12 mg/l in the test groups I, II, III, IV and V, respectively. Conclusions: There was no significant difference of metal concentration in the blood from the OD-treated-rats compared to those of the control group even if higher dosage (1~8 times the dosage for a person) of OD was administered. This may be mainly due to a decoction treatment which contains only supernatants filtered from the herb-mass after boiling. This indicates the legal limitation for metal concentration in herbal medicine must be applied according to different treatment methods of herbal medicine.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.217-223
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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 study was performed to find out the status and long-term trends with consecutive application with the commercial liquid pig manure in the agricultural fields. METHODS AND RESULTS: Heavy metals including arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc were analyzed in the 41 samples of paddy fields and 54 samples of upland fields consecutively applied with commercial liquid pig manure for 0 to 16 years. Heavy metal accumulation were not increased statistically at the both paddy and upland fields as the consecutive application year of commercial liquid pig manure were increased. However, some of surveyed upland soils exceeded the criteria of cadmium, copper, and zinc designated by the Soil Environmental Conservation Act in Korea. CONCLUSION: Therefore, analysis of heavy metals, specially copper and zinc, in agricultural fields is absolutely necessary before liquid pig manure application to the fields. In addition, heavy metal accumulation in agricultural fields following to the long-term application of liquid pig manure will be monitored periodically considering with bioavailability of copper and zinc to the crops as an essential nutrients.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.69-80
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• 1997

This investigation was conducted to provide information for characteristics of environmental pollution by the heavy metals from the abandoned gold mine in order to characterize the distribution patterns and environmental damages of the contaminants to the surrounding environment. Through analysis of CN, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, As, Cr, and Hg in a mine tailings, paddy soils, and stream sediments, the physico-chemical properties of the mine tailings and paddy soils were measured. The pH's were 5.4, 8.4 for the paddy soil and mine tailing, respectively. The maximum contents of CN, Pb, Cd, and As the in mine tailing were 99.98, 1,752.72, 31.88, and 298.50 mg/kg, respectively. The amounts of these ions were higher than the standard level of industrial area in Korea. The average content of CN and heavy metals in the paddy soils were higher than the background level of heavy metals in the unpolluted paddy soils around the mine. Especially, the contents of heavy metals in the paddy soils along the adjacent stream were higher compared to the paddy soil that was not influenced by the mine tailings. The contents of CN and heavy metals in the stream sediment close to the mine area were similar to those of the mine tailings, but decreased along the distance of the stream farther away from the tailings that was the source of these pollutants.