• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.11-15
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• 2021

Nitarsone is an organoarsenic antiprotozoal drug widely used to treat blackhead disease in turkeys and chickens. However, since its biological conversion into inorganic arsenic, a carcinogen was known, its residue in foods should be regulated. Thus, here, a novel method to determine residual nitarsone in various food commodities (pork, milk, egg, halibut, eel, and shrimp) using QuEChERS and LC-MRM was developed. The developed method was successfully validated through specificity, linearity (coefficient of determination, at least 0.991), recovery (R, 63.6 - 85.6%), precision (the relative standard deviation of R, 0.5 - 10.6%), and sensitivity (the lower limit of quantitation, 5 ppb) by following the Ministry of food and drug safety (MFDS) guidelines. The present method is the first mean to quantitate nitarsone using LC-MRM, and it was designed to be conveniently merged into a new method to quantitate multiple veterinary drugs for the positive list system (PLS). Therefore, the present method could contribute to fortify the food safety system in South Korea.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.10-19
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• 2020

BACKGROUND: This study was to carry out risk assessment of contamination of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and inorganic arsenic (I-As) in agricultural products of 25 crops from the abandoned mine areas. The 36 typical investigation sites located in Gyeongbuk provincial area were selected by considering the heavy metal levels, that had been known that the amount of the heavy metals exceeded the contamination level based on the previous survey. METHODS AND RESULTS: Cadmium, lead, and total arsenic (T-As) concentrations were determined using microwave device and ICP-MS. Inorganic arsenic was determined by HPLC-ICP-MS. The limits of quantification for heavy metals were 0.59 ㎍/kg for Cd, 0.42 ㎍/kg for Pb, 0.55 ㎍/kg for T-As, and sum of As (III) (1.74 ㎍/kg) and As (V) (2.25 ㎍/kg) for I-As, respectively. The contents of Cd, Pb, and I-As (only rice) were N.D.-0.958 mg/kg, N.D.-0.227 mg/kg, and 0.082 mg/kg, respectively, in the agricultural products. For risk assessment, dietary exposures of heavy metals through usual intake were 5.20×10^-4-7.15×10⁰ ㎍/day for Cd, 7.00×10^-5-7.75×10^-1 ㎍/day for Pb, and 1.17×10¹ ㎍/day for I-As, taking 0.01-14.37%, 0.01-2.05%, and 15.16% as risk indices, respectively. CONCLUSION: It requires to consider the critical levels of heavy metals in agricultural products due to unexpectedly high levels in a few places, while concentrations of heavy metals in the samples were relatively low in most areas.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.551-556
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• 2019

Recently, due to the fact that the mineral content in the wash water of the GAP-certified melon exceeds the GAP wash water standards, there are cases where the certification cannot be maintained. Therefore, agricultural industry demand requesting relaxation of the inorganic elements standard for water quality has been increasing, taking into account the consumption characteristics of Korean melon, which is eaten after removing the peel. This study was conducted to evaluate the human risks of four inorganic materials (fluorine, arsenic, iron and manganese) based on the water quality data of 142 samples of groundwater that was used for washing GAP-certified Korean melon in Seongju area from 2017 to 2019. As a result, the HQ of four minerals in Koreans who consumed groundwater used for washing GAP-certified Korean melons in the Seongju area was below 0.10 on average. In particular, in the case of iron and manganese which are esthetic influence substances, the average HQ was 0.00. The overexposure group showed 0.01, which was lower than the HQ (average 0.01, overexposure group 0.03) of the group that consumed Korean melon. Based on all the results, even if the groundwater of the Seongju area is used to wash GAP-certified Korean melon, the impact from these four inorganic materials, including iron and manganese, for Korean population consuming Korean melon will be minimal.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.289-296
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• 2021

In this study, 27 inorganic sunscreens and 23 sunscreens for children were collected to investigate the use and incorporation of 17 types of sunscreen agents, 13 types of preservatives, and 5 types of heavy metals. As a result, sunscreen agents were detected in the order of titanium dioxide (41 cases), zinc oxide (29 cases), bis-ethylhexyloxyphenyltriazine (10 cases), ethylhexyl salicylate (8 cases), and ethylhexylmethoxynamate (8 cases), and preservatives were detected in order of phenoxyethanol (6 cases), benzoic acid (1 case), and dihydroacetic acid(1 case). All of the identified sunscreen agents were suitable for labeling, but phenoxyethanol, a preservative component other than labeling, was detected at a concentration of 0.1%. Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, antimony, and nickel were not detected or were detected at various concentrations of less than 3.6 ㎍/g. All the detected UV filters, preservatives, and heavy metals were less than the allowed maximum amount stipulated by the Regulations on Cosmetic Safety Standards in Korea.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.57 no.4
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• pp.417-429
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• 2024

To assess the effectiveness of stabilization techniques on the transfer of As and heavy metals in soil to rice plant, pot experiments were conducted using organic (biochar), inorganic (limestone-steel slag mixture), and microbiological (sulfate-reducing bacteria, SRB) stabilizers. The results showed that microbiological treatments, particularly when SRB and SO₄^2- were co-injected, achieved higher stabilization efficiencies for Pb, Cu, and Cd in soil solution by the end of the experiments (153 days). The transfer of Pb, Zn, Cu, and Cd to the rice stems, leaves, and husks was reduced across all stabilization treatments. Notably, in husks, the stabilization efficiencies of Pb, Zn, Cu, and Cd ranged from 30% to 65% for organic stabilizers and 23% to 69% for inorganic stabilizers, surpassing those achieved with microbiological stabilizers. This study highlighted the potential of SRB as an effective alternative or supplementary stabilizer to conventional options such as limestone, steel slag, and biochar in reducing the transfer of heavy metals to crops in paddy soils.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.78-85
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• 2007

This study provides an attempt to evaluate sanding wastes, generated from a chemical company as a reused adsorbent. Organic impurities in the raw sanding wastes were removed by calcination at $550^{\circ}C$. Aluminum was a major inorganic composition in the raw sanding wastes and increased from 29.09% to 52.73% after calcination. Dissolved concentrations of heavy metals from the calcined sample were below 0.3 mg/L in a stability test at pH 2. From the pH-edge adsorption experiments with the calcined sanding wastes, As (V) was found to follow an anionic-type adsorption. Adsorption isotherm obtained with variation of the dosage of the calcined sanding wastes was better described by Freundlich equation than Langmuir one. Freundlich constants of K and 1/n were 4.244 and 0.316, respectively. The As (V) adsorption capacity of calcined sanding wastes estimated from Langmuir isotherm was 13.25 mg/g. From this study, the calcined sample was identified as a good reusable adsorbent in the view point of stability and adsorption capacity on As (V).

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.349-356
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• 2003

As industrial activities are growing, pollutants found in the contaminated land are getting diverse. Some contaminated areas are subject to mixed wastes containing both organic and inorganic wastes such as hydrocarbon and heavy metals. This study concerns with the influence of the degradation of organic pollutants on the coexisting heavy metals, expecially for As. As mainly exists as two different oxidation state; As(III) and As(V) and the conversion between the two chemical forms may be induced by organic degradation in the soil contaminated by mixed wastes. We operated microcosm in an anaerobic chamber for 60 days, using sandy loam. The soils in the microcosm are artificially contaminated both by tetradecane and As, with different combination of As(III) and As(V); As(III):As(V) 1:1, As(III) only and As(V) only. Although not systematic, ratio of As(III)/As(Total) increase slightly at the later stage of experiment. Considering complicated geochemical reactions involving oxidation/reduction of organic materials, Mn/Fe oxides and As, the findings in the study seem to indicate the degradation of the organics is connected with the As speciation. That is to say, the As(V) can be reduced to As(III) either by direct or indirect influence induced by the organic degradation. Although Fe and Mn are good oxidising agent for the oxidation of As(III) to As(V), organic degradation may have suppressed reductive dissolution of the Fe and Mn oxides, causing the organic pollutants to retard the oxidation of As(III) to As(V) until the organic degradation ceases. The possible influence of organic degradation on the As speciation implies that the As in mixed wastes may be have elevated toxicity and mobility by partial conversion from As(V) to As(III).

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.8-17
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• 2013

The objective of this study is investigation of contamination levels and transfer rate of heavy metals and assessment of health risk effects in animal medicines. A total of sixteen items with 148 samples were obtained for this investigation from major herbal medicine producing areas and herbal markets from 2011 to 2012. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer method was conducted for the quantitative analysis of Pb, Cd and As. In addition, the mercury analyzer system was conducted for that of Hg without sample digestion. The average contents of heavy metals in animal medicines were as follows : 1.55 mg/kg for Pb, 0.28 mg/kg for Cd, 0.70 mg/kg for As and 0.047 mg/kg for Hg respectively. The average contents of heavy metals in decoctions were as follows : 0.03 mg/kg for Pb, 0.01 mg/kg for Cd, 0.17 mg/kg for As and 0.003 mg/kg for Hg respectively. The average transfer rates of heavy metals from animal medicines to decoctions were 1.9% for Pb, 3.6% for Cd, 24.2% for As and 6.0% for Hg respectively. Cancer risks of animal medicines and decoctions through slope factor by ministry of environment republic korea and environmental protection agency was $1.36{\times}10^{-6}$ and $2.50{\times}10^{-8}$ for Pb and $7.46{\times}10^{-5}$ and $1.98{\times}10^{-5}$ for As (assuming that the total arsenic content was equal to the inorganic arsenic) respectively. The hazard index of heavy metals in animal medicines and decoctions was below recommended hazard index as 0.52 and 0.05 respectively. Taken together, cancer risks about Pb and hazard indexes of animal medicines and decoctions indicate that the majority of samples except for some samples with relative high contents of heavy metals were safe. But cancer risks about As of animal medicines indicate that the majority of samples were not relatively safe.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.423-429
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• 2008

Application of manganese-impregnated activated carbon(Mn-AC) in the treatment of synthetic wastewater containing both organic and inorganic contaminants was investigated. Phenol and As(III) was used as representative organic and inorganic contaminants, respectively. When the stability of Mn-AC at acidic condition was evaluated with variation of solution pH ranging from 2 to 4, Mn-AC was unstable below pH 3, while negligible dissolution of Mn was observed above pH 4. This stability test suggests a plausible applicability of Mn-AC in the treatment of wastewater above pH 4. Compared to AC-alone, the adsorption rates of phenol as well as adsorbed amounts of phenol by Mn-AC were slightly decreased due to the decrease of the surface area by impregnation. The maximum adsorbed amount of phenol by Mn-AC was corresponds to 75% of that by AC-alone from the adsorption isotherm study. The oxidation efficiency of As(III) by Mn-AC was greater than that by AC-alone at lower pHs while reverse trend was observed as pH increased above 7. From this work, it was found that Mn-AC could be used in the simultaneous treatment of both phenol and As(III).

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.201-205
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• 1998

In Korea, a small proportion of fishery products are contaminated with a considerable amount of potentially hazardous contaminants. So, there is generally a high risks to consumers. Inorganic contaminants with the greatest potential for toxicity are Sb, As, Cd, Pb, Hg, Se and the Sulfides. As appears to be much more variable than the others. This study was performed to assess the levels of the As in fisheries caught from the waters of the western coast of Korea. The samples included 26 kinds of fishes, 18 kinds of Mollusca, 3 kinds of Crustacea and 7 kinds of salted fishes. The Moisture content of molluscans was significantly higher than that of others (p<0.05). And the As contents of crustaceans were significantly higher than those of fishes, molluscans and salted fishes (p<0.05). The As content of Turban shell was 51.62 ppm, which was the highest among the samples. Also, the As contents of eel, cuttle fish and blue crab were found to be higher than in other fisheries. This variability offers a solution for the reduction of exposure to As through restricting the harvest of aquatic organism from the western coast of Korea.