• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.28-36
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• 2009

We have closely examined the concentration change characteristics, emission amounts, and the material balance of hazardous air pollutants at both early and later stages of the prevention facilities. These results will be uses as the basic data when preparing for the regulatory and management plans for hazardous air pollutants. The results of the study on heavy metals illustrated that the content of heavy metals in sludge across five facilities were as follows: copper> zinc> chrome> nickel> cadmium> mercury. In terms of heavy metal content in swage sludge, the sludge in incinerating facilities other than the sludge in the D incinerating facility containing industrial water waste, was examined in order to satisfy the ocean contamination standard and fertilizer specifications. Most of the items were shown to have satisfied the emission tolerance standards in the latter part of the prevention facilities(The average elimination rate was over 90%). Therefore, it is concluded that swage sludge containing high-concentrate heavy metals needs to be incinerated rather than recycled as fertilizer.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 1999

This study was performed to investigated the contamination levels of harmful heavy metals were sampled from Aug. 1 to Aug. 31, 1997, at 9 areas in Cheonbuk area. The heavy metal contents were determinated by ICPS(Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometer) method. The levels of total lead, cadmium, aluminum, iron and copper were determined and the results were summarized as follows: The minimum and maximum values(ppm) of 9 areas of Carassius auratus were Pb: 2.03~6.19, Cd: 0.06~ 0.76, Al: 8.84~23.5, Zn: 10.68~48.71, Cu: 0.60~1.51ppm. Among the five heavy metals contents, the highest was zinc and the lowest was cadmium. The results showed that the contents of Pb, Cd, Al, Zn and Cu in Carassius auratus were lower than the FAO/WHO maximum allowance.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.69-76
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: Contamination of soils by heavy metals is the serious environmental problem. In particular, industrial processing is one of the main sources of heavy metal contamination. The objective of this study was to investigate the distribution characteristics of heavy metals in soils collected from industrial complex. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, the soil contamination and enrichment factor (EF) of heavy metals were investigated in three national industrial complexes such as Yeosu, Ulsan and Sihwa Banwal industrial complexes. The target heavy metals includes Cd, Cu, As, Hg, Pb, Cr, Zn, and Ni. The results showed that the contents of Cd, Hg, Pb, Zn and Ni in Yeosu and the contents of Cu, As and Cr in Sihwa Banwal were higher than in any other industrial complex. The results of principal component analysis(PCA) in Yeosu, Ulsan and Sihwa Banwal complex could be explained up to approximately 81.4, 69.1 and 70.9% by two factor, respectively. Enrichment factors of Cd, Pb and Zn in all the investigated industrial complexes were above 1.0 that was the value judged to be a high contamination. And EF of Cr was above 1.0 in Sihwa Banwal complex. EF of Zn in all sites was generally high from the other heavy metals. CONCLUSION: Therefore, soils maybe significantly affected by heavy metals (especially, Cd, Pb and Zn) present in the emissions from industrial complexes.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.287-293
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• 2007

Heavy metal contamination and biological toxicity of mine drainages and sediments in abandoned mines were studied. Mine drainages had pH at a range of 2.94~7.86, and contained heavy metals at a toxic level. For coal mines, toxicity of mine drainage to Daphnia magna was attributable to acidic pH. In addition to the low pH, suspended heavy metals such as Zn and Cu contributed to toxicity of mine drainages at abandoned metalliferous mines. All mine sediments studied in this work showed biological toxicity to Chironomus riparius, having mortality at a range of 15~60%. However, its relationship with physicochemical properties including heavy metal content of the sediments was not statistically explained. Exceptionally clay ($< 2{\mu}m$ particle) content was negatively correlated with the biological toxicity for sediment samples collected at the same abandoned mines.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.456-464
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• 2010

Recently, heavy metals contamination of the agricultural soil and crops surrounding mining areas has been identified as one of the most serious environmental problems in South Korea. The Ministry of the Environment in Korea conducted a Preliminary National Environmental Health Survey (PNEHS) in abandoned metal mines in 2007. The priority for a subsequent detailed examination was ranked from the results of PNEHS. The studied mine which was ranked as being of the highest priority is located in the midwestern part of Korea and was operated from 1911 to 1985. In this study, the contamination levels of the heavy metals in the abandoned metal mine were investigated. From the results, the average daily dose (ADD), target hazard quotient (THQ) and target cancer risk of the heavy metals were evaluated. The concentration of arsenic (As) in all of the tailings from the mine was higher than its countermeasure standard of Korea. In particular, the highest concentration of As, 330 mg/kg, was up to 15 times higher than its countermeasure standard. The average concentration of As in agricultural soils was higher than the warning standard of Korea, and higher than its countermeasure standard at six sites. The average concentrations of the analyzed heavy metals in agricultural soil were below the warning standard, but concentrations of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) at 4 sites were higher than its warning standard. The average concentration of As in surface water exceeded the warning standard of Korea. The value of the THQ of As for the tailings was higher than the health protection standard 1. The value of THQ of As for the farmlands was lower than the standard, while the hazard index (HI) of As was higher than the standard. The value of target cancer risk (TCR) of As, $6.44{\times}10^{-4}$, were higher than the health protection standard of a lifetime risk for TCR at $1{\times}10^{-6}$. This suggests that the residents around the metal mines are exposed to As pollution with a carcinogenic risk.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.89-104
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• 2001

The Chonju and Samchun streams are passing though Chonju city and several contamination sources are located along these streams. The Samchun stream joins the Chonju stream in the Gosapyeong waste disposal site and the Chonju stream finally joins to the Mankyeong River. The objectives of this study are to determine the state and sources of contamination for heavy metals and anions in the Chonju and Samchun streams and to evaluate the effect of these streams on the contamination of the Mankyeong River. In order to select sampling locations, a stratified random sampling method was used. These streams was divided into several parts according to the expected contamination state, and samples were selected randomly from these parts. Generally, the water qualities of these streams were generally below the Drinking Water Level at the time of sampling in various heavy metals and anions. However, the levels of AI, Fe, $NH_{3}-N,Cl^{-}$, Cl- in these streams could be higher during dry season due to continuous inputs from various contamination sources. This study identified several contamination sources for these streams; two waste disposal sites along these streams for Fe, Mn, AI, Zn and $Cl^{-}$, the Chonju Waste Water Treatment Plant for Zn, Mn, $Cl^{-}$, $SO_{4}S$, $NO_{2}N$, and $NH_{3}-N$ and the untreated sewages for AI, Zn, Mn, $Cl^{-}$, $SO_{4}S$, $NH_{3}-N$ and $PO_{4}^{2-}$. This study also revealed that the Chonju stream itself is an important contamination source for Fe, Mn, $Cl^{-}$ and $SO_{4}S$ in the Mankyung River.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.167-172
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• 2020

The effectiveness of in situ sediment capping as a technique for heavy metal risk mitigation in Hyeongsan River estuary, South Korea was studied. Sites in the estuary were found previously to show moderate to high levels of contamination of mercury, methylmercury and other heavy metals. A 400 m x 50 m section of the river was selected for a thin layer capping demonstration, where the total area was divided into 4 sections capped with different combinations of capping materials (zeolite, AC/zeolite, AC/sand, zeolite/sand). Pore water concentrations in the different sites were studied using diffusive gradient in thin film (DGT) probes. All capping amendments showed reduction in the pore water concentration of the different heavy metals with top 5 cm showing %reduction greater than 90% for some heavy metals. The relative maxima for the different metals were found to be translated to lower depths with addition of the caps. For two-layered cap with AC, order of placement should be considered since AC can easily be displaced due to its relatively low density. Investigation of methylmercury (MeHg) in the site showed that MeHg and %MeHg in pore water corresponds well with maxima for sulfide, Fe and Mn suggesting mercury methylation as probably coupled with sulfate, Fe and Mn reduction in sediments. Our results showed that thin-layer capping of active sorbents AC and zeolite, in combination with passive sand caps, are potential remediation strategy for sediments contaminated with heavy metals.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.32-39
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• 2013

This research focused on the effects of heavy metals on the biomonitoring activity of genetically engineered bioluminescent bacteria, Pseudomonas putida mt-2 KG1206. KG1206 was exposed to single or binary mixtures of different heavy metals as well as soils contaminated with heavy metals. In case of single exposure with different inducer pollutant, the toxicity order was as followings : As(III) > Cd, As(V) >> Cu, Cr(VI). The toxic effects of the binary mixtures was compared to the expected effect based on a simple theory of probabilities. The interactive effects were mostly additive, while in few cases antgonistic and synergistic mode of action was observed for some concentration combinations. No considerable correlation was found between the total metal contents in soils and the bioluminescence activity of each sample. However, statistically significant differences (p = 0.0102) were observed between two groups, classified based on arsenite contamination. These results demonstrate the usage of recombinant bioluminescent microorganism in biomonitoring and the complex interactive effects of metals.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.59 no.5
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• pp.41-49
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• 2017

This study was aimed to investigate the influence of cation exchange capacity (CEC) and application amounts of zeolite on the stabilization of heavy metals (As, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in upland soils. The upland soils were sampled from field near mines located in Gyeonggi Province. The CEC of zeolite was treated at three different levels, ie, low, medium, and high, while zeolite was amended with soils at the ratio of 0.1 % and 0.5 % as to soil weight. A sequential extraction was performed for the soil sampled at 1, 2 4, and 8 week after zeolite was added to the soil. The concentrations of Pb and Zn appeared to be high in the sampled soils. The mobility of heavy metals obtained from sequential experiments was as follows: Pb > Zn > Ni >As. Addition of zeolite to contaminated soils effectively reduced exchangeable and carbonate fractions but increased organic and residual fraction, indicating that zeolite is effective for immobilizing heavy metals in soils. The influence of incubation time on the metal stabilization was rather pronounced as compared to the application amount and CEC of zeolite.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.51-61
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• 2011

Germination tests were conducted to determine the practical concentration levels at which plants can reproduce naturally during the phytoremediation of soils contaminated with a high concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals. The effects of humic acids on plant growth and soil physicochemical properties were also investigated. The results show that phytoremediation can be applied in soils contaminated by multiple contaminants at the former soil contamination potential level of Korean soil quality standards considering successful natural reproduction. It was observed that germination rates of Helianthus annuus and Festuca arundinacea were high after all treatments, and transplantation was more appropriate for Phragmites communis in phytoremediation. Humic acids had a positive effect on the growth of both aboveground and belowground biomass of herbaceous plants. Growth inhibition by multiple contaminants is more severe in the case of aboveground biomass. Germination and growth tests suggest that Helianthus annuus is a suitable phytoremediation plant for soils contaminated with a high concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals. The addition of humic acids also caused changes in the physicochemical properties of contaminated soils. An increase in the carbon and nitrogen content due to the addition of humic acids and a correlation between cation exchange capacity(CEC) and the organic matter content were observed.