• 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.

• 한국환경농학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.07a
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• pp.93-115
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• 2009

There are growing public concerns over crop and food safeties due to the elevated levels of heavy metals grown in contaminated soil. Heavy metals are classified as the chemical harmful risks for crop and food safety. With implementation of GAP, crop safety is controlled by many regulatory options for soil, irrigation water and fertilizers. Any attempt to retard the metal uptake by crops may be the best protocol to secure crop and food safety. This article reviews the management strategies for heavy metals in view of crop safety in Korea and demonstrates results from the field experiments to retard metal translocation from soil to crops by using chemical amendments and soil layer management methods. Major source of soil pollution by heavy metals has been related with mining activities. Risk assessment revealed that rice consumption and groundwater ingestion in the abandoned mining areas were the major exposure pathways for metals to human and the heavy metal showed the toxic effects on human health. Chemical amendments such as lime and slag retarded Cd uptake by rice (Oryza sativa L.) by increasing soil pH, lowering the phytoavailable Cd concentration in soil solution, immobilizing Cd in soil and converting the available Cd fractions into non-available fractions. The soil layer management methods decreased the Cd uptake by 76% and Pb by 60%. Either reversing the surface layer with subsurface layer or immobilization of metals with layer mixing with lime was considered to be the practical option for the in-situ remediation of the contaminated paddy soils. Combination of chemical soil amendments and layer management methods was efficient to retard the metal bioavailability and thus to secure crop safety for heavy metals. This protocol seems to be cheap, relatively easy to practice and practical in the agricultural fields. However, a long term monitoring work should be followed to verify the efficiency of this protocol.

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

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.61-68
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• 2010

Phytoextraction, one type of phytoremediation processes, has been widely used in the removal of heavy metals from polluted soil. This paper reviewed literature on metal uptake by plants and characterized the metal uptake by types of metals (Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd, and As), plant species, initial metal concentrations in soil and the distribution of metals in different parts of plants. The potential of metal accumulation and transport by plants was closely related to plants species, types of metals, and initial metal concentrations in soil. The plants belonging to Brassicaceae, Solanaceae, Poaceae, and Convolvulaceae families have shown the high potential capacity of Cd accumulation. The Gentianaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Polygonaceae families have exhibited relatively high Pb uptake potential while the Pteridaceae and Cyperaceae families have shown relatively high Zn uptake potential. The Pteridaceae family could uptake a remarkably high amount of As compared with other plant families. The potential metal accumulation per plant biomass has increased with increasing initial metal concentration in soil up to a certain level and then decreased for Cd and Zn. For As, only Pteris vittata had a linear relationship between initial concentration in soil and potential of metal uptake. However, a meaningful relationship for Pb was not found in this study. Generally, the plants having high metal uptake potential for Cd or Pb mainly accumulated the metal in their roots. However, the Euphorbiaceae family has accumulated more than 80% of Pb in shoot. Zn has evenly accumulated in roots and stems except for the plants belonging to the Polygonaceae and Rosaceae families which accumulated Zn in their leaves. The Pteridaceae family has accumulated a higher amount of As in leaves than roots. The types of metals, plant species, and initial metal concentration in soil influence the metal uptake by plants. It is important to select site-specific plant species for effective removal of metals in soil. Therefore, this study may provide useful and beneficial information on metal accumulation by plants for the in situ phytoremediation.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.141-141
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• 1995

The waste biomass of Sacchromyces uvarum, used in fermentation industries to produce ethanol, were studied for their ability to absorb various heavy metal ions. Heavy metal ions studied in this research were Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni and Pb. The order of the sorption capacity was Pb>Cu>Co=Cr=Cd>Ni. The living Sacchromyces uvarum exhibited higher metal-uptake capacity than the dead Sacchromyces uvarum. After we compare the uptake capacity of the Sacchromyces uvarum for individual metal ions with for a mixture of them, the following was observed: in the mixed heavy metal solution the uptake capacity was decreased than the one heavy metal solution. The selective uptake was observed when all . the heavy metal ions were dissolved in a mixed solution. The adsorption isotherm modelling was decribed with the Langmuir and Freundlich model. The results were in good agreement with the Langmuir model.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.527-534
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• 1995

The waste biomass of Sacchromyces uvarum, used in fermentation industries to produce ethanol, were studied for their ability to absorb various heavy metal ions. Heavy metal ions studied in this research were Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni and Pb. The order of the sorption capacity was Pb>Cu>Co=Cr=Cd>Ni. The living Sacchromyces uvarum exhibited higher metal-uptake capacity than the dead Sacchromyces uvarum. After we compare the uptake capacity of the Sacchromyces uvarum for individual metal ions with for a mixture of them, the following was observed: in the mixed heavy metal solution the uptake capacity was decreased than the one heavy metal solution. The selective uptake was observed when all . the heavy metal ions were dissolved in a mixed solution. The adsorption isotherm modelling was decribed with the Langmuir and Freundlich model. The results were in good agreement with the Langmuir model.

• ALGAE
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.157-166
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• 2005

Uptake kinetics of Cd and Zn by leaves and rhizome of the seagrass Zostera marina were examined in controlled laboratory radiotracer experiments. Subsequently, acute toxicity of Cd, Cu and TBT on photosynthetic quantum yield (ΔF/Fm’ of Z. marina were determined, and the differential sensitivities of rapid light curve (RLC) to those harmful substances were also compared. All measurements on photosynthetic activity were determined by chlorophyll a fluorescence method using pulse amplitude modulation (PAM). Metal uptake by Z. marina was saturated with increasing exposure time in leaves and rhizomes. Uptake of Zn by Z. marina was faster than that of Cd. Metal uptake rates in Z. marina decreased with the increase of dissolved metal concentrations and also with the increase of biomass. The adverse effect of TBT on effective quantum yield was stronger than other pollutants. Average acute toxicity on the RLC of the seagrass exposed to TBT and two heavy metals (Cd and Cu) was going to decrease as follows: TBT > Cd > Cu. Our preliminary results in this study suggested that Z. marina potentially can be used as a biomonitor of harmful substances contamination in coastal waters.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.267-275
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• 2009

To investigate the possible applications of plants to remediate heavy-metal-contaminated soil, a pilot experiment was performed for four years in a reclaimed dredging area using two Alnus species, i.e., Alnus firma and Alnus hirsuta. In a comparison of phytomass of the two species at two different planting densities, the phytomass of Alnus planted at low density was twice as high as that of Alnus planted at high density after four years. The Alnus species showed active acclimation to the heavy-metal-contaminated soil in a reclaimed dredging area. A. hirsuta showed greater accumulation of phytomass than A. firma, indicating that it is the better candidate for the phytoremediation of heavy-metal-contaminated soils. In the pilot system, Alnus plants took metals up from the soil in the following order; Pb > Zn > Cu > Cr > As > Cd. Uptake rates of heavy metals per individual phytomass was higher for Alnus spp. planted at low density than those planted at high density in the pilot system. Low plant density resulted in higher heavy metal uptake per plant, but the total heavy metal concentration was not different for plants planted at low and high density, suggesting that the plant density effect might not be important with regard to total uptake by plants. The quantity of leached heavy metals below ground was far in excess of that taken up by plants, indicating that an alternative measurement is required for the removal of heavy metals that have leached into ground water and deeper soil. We conclude that Alnus species are potential candidates for phytoremediation of heavy-metal- contaminated surface soil in a reclaimed dredging area.

• ALGAE
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.265-275
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• 2011

This study examined the bioaccumulation of the heavy metals copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) by the giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, by exposing meristematic kelp tissue to elevated metal concentrations in seawater within laboratory aquaria. Specifically, we carried out two different experiments. The first examined metal uptake under a single, ecologically-relevant elevation of each metal (30 ppb Cu and 100 ppb Zn), and the second examined the relationships between varying levels of the metals (i.e., 15, 39, 60, 120, 240, and 480 ppb Cu, and 50, 100, 200, 300, 500, and 600 ppb Zn). Both experiments were designed to contrast the uptake of the metals in isolation (i.e., when only one metal concentration was elevated) and in combination (i.e., when both metals' concentrations were elevated). Following three days of exposure to the elevated metal concentrations, we collected and analyzed the M. pyrifera tissues using inductively coupled plasma atomic emissions spectroscopy. Our results indicated that M. pyrifera bioaccumulated Cu in all treatments where Cu concentrations in the seawater were elevated, regardless of whether Zn concentrations were also elevated. Similarly, M. pyrifera bioaccumulated Zn in treatments where seawater Zn concentrations were elevated, but this occurred only when we increased Zn alone, and not when we simultaneously increased Cu concentrations. This suggests that elevated Cu concentrations inhibit Zn uptake, but not vice versa. Following this, our second experiment examined the relationships among varying seawater Cu and Zn concentrations and their bioaccumulation by M. pyrifera. Here, our results indicated that, as their concentrations in the seawater rise, Cu and Zn uptake by M. pyrifera tissue also rises. As with the first experiment, the presence of elevated Zn in the water did not appear to affect Cu uptake at any concentration examined. However, although it was not statistically significant, we observed that the presence of elevated Cu in seawater appeared to trend toward inhibiting Zn uptake, especially at higher levels of the metals. This study suggests that M. pyrifera may be useful as a bio-indicator species for monitoring heavy metal pollution in coastal environments.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.44-53
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• 2021

Urban stormwater runoff contains heavy metals that accumulate in on-site treatment systems, thus resulting to facility deterioration and maintenance problems. In order to resolve these problems, low impact development (LID) technologies that promote natural materials circulation are widely used. LID facilities are capable of treating heavy metals in the runoff by means of plant uptake; however, the uptake or phytoremediation capabilities of plants have not been studied extensively, making it difficult to select the most suitable plant species for a certain LID design. This study investigated the vegetative components of an LID facility, roadside plants, and plants in landscape areas with different heavy metal exposure and frequency to determine the uptake capabilities of different plant species. The plants harvested inside the LID facilities and roadsides with high vehicular traffic exhibited greater heavy metal concentrations in their tissues as compared with the plants in landscape areas. Generally, the accumulation of heavy metals in the plant tissues were found to be influenced by the environmental characteristics (i.e. influent water quality, air pollution level, etc.). Dianthus, Metasequoia, Rhododendron lateritium, and Mugwort were found to be effective in removing Zn in the urban stormwater runoff. Additionally, Dianthus, Metasequoia, Mugwort, and Ginkgo Biloba exhibited excellent removal of Cu. Cherry Tree, Metasequoia, and mugwort efficiently removed Pb, whereas Dianthus was also found to be effective in treating As, Cr, and Cd in stormwater. Overall, different plant species showed varying heavy metal uptake capabilities. The results of this study can be used as an effective tool in selecting suitable plant species for removing heavy metals in the runoff from different land use types.