• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.89-101
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• 2003

River deposits and farmland soils were analyzed to investigate the pollution level of heavy metals in the vicinity of the Goro abandoned Zn-mine. Surface (0-40 cm) and subsurface (40-100 cm) soils were collected around a main river located at the lower part of the Goro mine, and analyzed by ICP-MS for Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn and Cr after 0. 1N HCI extraction and by AAS for As after IN HCI extraction. Concentrations of cadmium and lead at the surface river deposits close to the mine were over the Soil Pollution Warning Limit (SPWL), and 43% of sample sites (6 of 14 samples) were over SPWL for As suggesting that river deposits were broadly contaminated by arsenic. Results from farmland soil analysis showed that surface soils were contaminated by heavy metals, while only arsenic was over SPWL at 50% of sampling sites. Main pollution mechanism around the Goro mine was the discharge of mine tailing and waste rocks from the storage site to the river and to adjacent farmland during flood season. Pollution Grades for sample locations were prescribed by the Law of Soil Environmental Preservation, suggesting that the pollution level of heavy metals around the Goro mine was serious, and the remediation operation fur arsenic and the isolation of mine tailing and waste rocks from river and farmland should be activated to protect further contamination. The area needed to clean up was estimated from pollution distribution data and the remediation methods such as a soil washing method and a soil improvement method were considered as the further remediation operation for arsenic contaminated soils and river deposits around the Goro abandoned mine.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.5 s.174
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• pp.547-561
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• 2005

General characteristics of groundwater contamination by As were reviewed with several recent researches, and its occurrence in groundwater of Korea was investigated based on a ffw previous studies and a groundwater quality survey in Nonsan and Geumsan areas. In Bangladesh, which has been known as the most serious arsenic calamity country, about $28\%$ of the shallow groundwaters exceeded the Bangladesh drinking water standard, $50{\mu}g/L$, and it was estimated that about 28 million people were exposed to concentrations greater than the standard. Groundwater was characterized by circum-neutral pH with a moderate to strong reducing conditions. Low concentrations of $SO_4^{2-}$ and $NO_3^-$, and high contents of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and $NH_4^+$ were typical chemical characteristics. Total As concentrations were enriched in the Holocene alluvial aquifers with a dominance of As(III) species. It was generally agreed that reductive dissolution of Fe oxyhydroxides was the main mechanism for the release of As into groundwater coupling with the presence of organic matters and microbial activities as principal factors. A new model has also been suggested to explain how arsenic can naturally contaminate groundwaters far from the ultimate source with transport of As by active tectonic uplift and glaciatiion during Pleistocene, chemical weathering and deposition, and microbial reaction processes. In Korea, it has not been reported to be so serious As contamination, and from the national groundwater quality monitoring survey, only about $1\%$ of grounwaters have concentrations higher than $10{\mu}g/:L.$ However, it was revealed that $19.3\%$ of mineral waters, and $7\%$ of tube-well waters from Nonsan and Geumsan areas contained As concentrations above $10{\mu}g/:L.$. Also, percentages exceeding this value during detailed groundwater quality surveys were $36\%\;and\;22\%$ from Jeonnam and Ulsan areas, respectively, indicating As enrichment possibly by geological factors and local mineralization. Further systematic researches need to proceed in areas potential to As contamination such as mineralized, metasedimentary rock-based, alluvial, and acid sulfate soil areas. Prior to that, it is required to understand various geochemical and microbial processes, and groundwater flow characteristics affecting the behavior of As.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.71-81
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• 2011

Cause of contamination in the study area nearby Jang Hang Refinery is dust scattering in refinery stack, and soil washing treatment is one of the proper technologies for soil remediation in this area. Site conditions frequently limit the selection of a treatment process. A treatment technology may be eliminated based on the soil classification or physicochemical characteristics of soil. This study was assessed the soil washing efficiency by conducting of soil characteristic analysis in the vicinity of Jang Hang Refinery Stack within a 2 km radius. Also, it was decided about remedial range with comparative analysis of As in soil by Korean Standard Test Method before/after revision, whereupon As concentration in soil showed a increasing tendency after revision. As a result, the soil washing using the size separation of soil was determined through identifying of As species in the soil. In this site, only particle size distribution and water content of soil can provide the initial means of screening for the potential use of soil washing.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.227-237
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• 2008

Arsenic has recently become of the most serious environmental concerns, and the worldwide regulation of arsenic fur drinking water has been reinforced. Arsenic contaminated groundwater and soil have been frequently revealed as well, and arsenic contamination and its treatment and measures have been domestically raised as one of the most important environmental issues. Arsenic behavior in geo-environment is principally affected by oxides and clay minerals, and particularly iron (oxy)hydroxides have been well known to be most effective in controlling arsenic. Among a number of iron (oxy)hydroxides, for this reason, 2-line ferrihydrite was selected in this study to investigate its effect on arsenic behavior. Adsorption of 2-line ferrihydrite was characterized and compared between As(III) and As(V) which are known to be the most ubiquitous species among arsenic forms in natural environment. Two-line ferrihydrite synthesized in the lab as the adsorbent of arsenic had $10\sim200$ nm for diameter, $247m^{2}/g$ for specific surface area, and 8.2 for pH of zero charge, and those representative properties of 2-line ferrihydrite appeared to be greatly suitable to be used as adsorbent of arsenic. The experimental results on equilibrium adsorption indicate that As(III) showed much stronger adsorption affinity onto 2-line ferrihydrite than As(V). In addition, the maximum adsorptions of As(III) and As(V) were observed at pH 7.0 and 2.0, respectively. In particular, the adsorption of As(III) did not show any difference between pH conditions, except for pH 12.2. On the contrary, the As(V) adsorption was remarkably decreased with increase in pH. The results obtained from the detailed experiments investigating pH effect on arsenic adsorption show that As(III) adsorption increased up to pH 8.0 and dramatically decreased above pH 9.2. In case of As(V), its adsorption steadily decreased with increase in pH. The reason the adsorption characteristics became totally different depending on arsenic species is attributed to the fact that chemical speciation of arsenic and surface charge of 2-line ferrihydrite are significantly affected by pH, and it is speculated that those composite phenomena cause the difference in adsorption between As(III) and As(V). From the view point of adsorption kinetics, adsorption of arsenic species onto 2-line ferrihydrite was investigated to be mostly completed within the duration of 2 hours. Among the kinetic models proposed so for, power function and elovich model were evaluated to be the most suitable ones which can simulate adsorption kinetics of two kinds of arsenic species onto 2-line ferrihydrite.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.294-303
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• 2010

We determined arsenic, lead, mercury and cadmium concentrations in Chinese herbal medicines sold in the United States by medical use parts. 54 kinds of herbal products including 9 medical use parts (radix, rhizoma, cortex, pericarpium, fructus, lignum, semen, folium, and herba) were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry for arsenic, lead and cadmium, and using mercury analyzer for mercury. Arsenic (median concentration, 0.25 mg/g), mercury (0.20 mg/g), lead (3.78 mg/g) and cadmium (0.39 mg/g) were detected in 71%, 54%, 35%, and 18% of 143 herbal medicine samples, respectively. A total of 27% and 12% of 143 products analyzed contained mercury and cadmium above the regulatory standards. Herba and folium (leaves of herbal plants) were the most contaminated parts from metals, whereas pericarpium, lignum and semen (outer layers and seeds) were less contaminated. This study suggests that metal contamination is different by medical use parts. Our findings provide further evidence that efforts to protect people using traditional remedies from metal intoxication should be made to enforce the regulatory standards.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.149-157
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• 2000

This paper presents the first results of dissolved arsenic in the Kangnung Namdae stream. The distribution of As concentrations measured in 28 August (high water flow) and in 21 November 1997 (low water flow) differs from those of other metals measured during the same period; The concentrations of Doam-dam are lower than those of Obong-dam and accumulation in the downstream in the period of low water flow is not pronounced. The As concentration in the downstream under the low water flow is lower than under high water flow, reciprocally to other metals. Freshwater concentrations are comparable with those measured in pristine river and lower than the world average and the diffrence of concentrations measured during two period is minute. Therefore, the As concentrations in the Namdae stream are background level and the source of As contamination does not exist. In the mixing zone between the freshwater and Donghae seawater, As behave conservatively, indicating the absence of any significant removal or mobilization processes. A first estimation of total dissolved As input from Namdae stream to Donghae coastal sea shows 65.12 kg/yr.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.391-396
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• 2015

Arsenic (As) contamination of agricultural soils resulting from mining activity has caused major concern due to the potential health risk. Therefore the current study was carried out to investigate the relationship between fractionation of As in soil and rice uptake and to provide a basic information for adequate management of As contaminated agricultural soil. Twenty agricultural soils and rice affected by the abandoned mining sites were collected. Soil chemical properties and As concentrations (total and sequential extracted) in soils were determined and As concentrations in polished rice were analyzed. The average concentration of As in non-specifically adsorbed (F1), specifically adsorbed (F2), amorphous hydrous oxides of Fe and Al (F3), crystalline hydrous oxides of Fe and Al (F4) and residual phase (F5) were 0.08, 1.38, 10.34, 3.26 and $10.98mgkg^{-1}$, respectively. Both soil pH and available phosphorus were positively correlated with the concentrations of As in F1 and F2. These results indicate that increasing the soil pH and available phosphorus can significantly increase the easily mobile fractions of As (F1 and F2). The average concentration of As in polished rice was $0.09mgkg^{-1}$. The concentrations of As in F1 and F2 showed a positive correlation with the concentrations of As in polished rice. Therefore soil pH and available phosphorus affect the distribution of As fractionation in soils and thus affect As bioavailability.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.64-71
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• 2015

Soil contamination with arsenic and heavy metals is a worldwide problem. Main objective of this research was to evaluated effects of reducing heavy metal leaching under reduced soil condition amended with industrial by-products. The contaminated soil was amended with 3% (w/w) of limestone (Ls), steel slag (SS) and acid mine drainage sludge (AMDS). Synthetic acid rain ($H_2SO_4:HNO_3=6:4$, pH 5.5 fixed) was used for feeding solution with flow rate of $0.78{\sim}0.88mL\;min^{-1}$. Results showed that similar pH and EC of leachate was observed in all treatments regardless of applied industrial by-products. However, arsenic concentration of leachate increased when industrial by-products were mixed. Meanwhile, concentration of heavy metal in the leachate decreased from 11.3 to 4.59 mg for Cd, from 92.3 to 7.93 mg for Pb, and from 11,716 to 1,788 mg for Zn via immobilization in soil with AMDS amended, respectively. Overall, application of industrial by-products can be an environmentally-friendly way to remediate soil and(or) leachate contaminated with metal(loid)s in metal mine site.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.1-10
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• 2019

Recently, groundwater contamination by mixed occurrence of arsenic (As) and nitrate ($NO_3{^-}$) has been a serious environmental issue all around world. In this study, we investigated the microbial As(III) oxidation characteristic under denitrification process to examine the feasibility of the microbial consortia in wetland sediment to simultaneously treat these two contaminants. The detail objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of $NO_3{^-}$ on the oxidation of As(III) in anaerobic environments and observe the microbial community change during the As oxidation under denitrification process. Results showed that the As(III) was completely and simultaneously oxidized to As(V) under denitrification process, however, it occurred to a much less extent in the absence of sediment or $NO_3{^-}$. In addition, the significant increase of As(III) oxidation rate in the presence of $NO_3{^-}$ suggested the potential of As oxidation under denitrification by indigenous microorganisms in wetland sediment. Genera Pseudogulbenkiania, and Flavisolibacter were identified as predominant microbial species driving the redox process. Conclusively, this study can provide useful information on As(III) oxidation under denitrifying environment and contribute to develop an effective technology for simultaneous removal of As(III) and $NO_3{^-}$ in groundwater.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.116-124
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• 2010

While groundwater is the major source for drinking and irrigation purposes, arsenic (As) contamination of groundwater is a serious issue in Bangladesh. With a view to reduce As contamination in drinking water the guideline value recommended for Bangladesh is 0.05 mg/L. We assessed groundwater As in an As-affected Sadar Upazilla (small administrative unit) in the District (administrative unit) of Chapai Nabwabganj during 2006, where 50% hand tube well water were above the recommended limit (0.05 mg/L) during dry season. Almost 20% tube well waters were above the recommended limit during rainy season, perhaps due to the dilution of water table. The groundwater in Bangladesh contaminates surface soils and plants thereby As entering the food chain. In 2005, we examined the As levels in different rice varieties grown in different Districts of Bangladesh and the As concentrations in rice grain ranged from 0.07~1.12 mg/kg while the concentrations in 3 rice varieties were above the recommended limit (1 mg/kg rice grain) and the maximum concentration was 1.12 mg/kg rice grain in the rice variety BR 11. With few exceptions, the As content of rice grain in Bangladesh is not considered to be concentration of greater health concern as yet. We also observed enhanced root uptake, efficient root-to shoot translocation, and a much elevated tolerance through internal detoxification all contribute to As hyperaccumulation in a plant, ladder brake fern (Pteris vittata L.). But the phytoremediation technique might not be an appropriate tool to reduce the As calamity in the vast areas of Bangladesh. To mitigate the As problem of Bangladesh, better coordination among governmental agencies and many other organizations will be required to combat the disaster.