• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1076-1086
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• 2010

Soil remediation technologies were experimented to evaluate whether the technologies could be used to apply remediation of contaminated marine sediment. In this research, marine sediments were sampled at "Ulsan" and "Jinhae" where remediation projects are considered, and then the possibility of heavy metal removal was evaluated throughout the technologies. Heavy metal concentration of silt and clay fraction was higher than that of sand fraction at "Ulsan". Heavy metal removal of the silt and clay fraction was arsenic (As) 81.5%, mercury (Hg) 93.8% by particle separation, cadmium (Cd) 72.2%, mercury (Hg) 93.8% by soil washing technology, cadmium (Cd) 70.8%, lead (Pb) 65.6% by another soil washing technology. Based on experimental results, tested particle separation and soil washing technologies could be used to remove heavy metals of sand fraction and silt and clay fraction. Heavy metal removal by soil washing technology which was composed of separation, washing and physical or chemical reaction by additives such as acid, organic solvents was more effective comparing to that of particle separation. Since heavy metal concentration of all treated samples was suitable for national soil standards, all the tested technologies were could be used not only to remove heavy metals of marine contaminated sediment but also to reuse treated samples in land.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.524-530
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• 2016

Agricultural soils near or around industrial complexes can contain a certain amount of heavy metals that readily enter the food chain and negatively affect human health. Therefore, we conducted the study to investigate the distribution of selected heavy metals, including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and zinc (Zn), in farm-land soils around fifteen industrial complexes in the southwestern provinces, Korea. The concentrations of heavy metals in the soil samples were determined by the pseudo-total aqua regia (3 HCl : $1HNO_3$) digestion procedure. The heavy metal concentrations in most soils examined did not exceed the levels of Soil Contamination Warning Standard (SCWS) for agricultural lands (Region 1) presented in Soil Environment Conservation Law (SECL) established by Ministry of Environment (MOE), Korea. However, only one sampling site showed higher As amount ($27.1mg\;kg^{-1}$) than the SCWS level of As ($25mg\;kg^{-1}$). Pollution index (PI) for heavy metals did not exceed 1.0. The PI values were significantly positively correlated (p < 0.01) with the heavy metal concentrations. In particular, the values of correlation coefficient between the Cd and Pb concentrations and the PI values were higher than those estimated from other combinations, and thus the amounts of Cd and Pb in the agricultural soils highly affected the PI values for the heavy metals.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.560-568
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• 2007

The aim of this study is to investigate the terminology of chemically unclear ‘heavy metals' which were expressed in the Korean secondary science textbook in terms of the definition, the type and the meaning. Initial results showed that six of ‘Chemistry I' textbooks among these texts defined a heavy metal with the density and described it as a metal which is hazardous and continuously accumulated in the human body. Specifically, cadmium, lead and mercury were presented as examples of the hazardous metal in all of the eight textbooks but non-metals such as arsenic and absolutely essential metals including chrome, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel and copper were also given in the texts. Most of the texts described the hazardousness and toxicity of the metal too simple to understand the mechanism of its intoxication despite considering all of the factors including its oxidation state, residual amount and reactivity with biomolecules of the human body. Such an ambiguous definition and explanation may excluded in the textbook because the chemically undefined chemical vocabulary leads students to cause an alternative conception of the heavy metal, which means that the metal could be identical with toxins.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.143-149
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• 2012

To prepare measures for practical policy utilization and the control of heavy metals, hazard control related institutions by country, present states of control by country, and present states of control by heavy metals were examined. Hazard control cases by heavy metals in various countries were compared and analyzed. In certain countries (e.g., the U.S., the U.K., and Japan), hazardous substances found in foods (e.g., arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury) are controlled. In addition, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) recommends calculating the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) of individual heavy metals instead of the acceptable daily intake (ADI) to compare their pollution levels considering their toxicity accumulated in the human body. In Korea, exposure assessments have been conducted, and in other countries, hazardous substances are controlled by various governing bodies. As such, in Korea and other countries, diverse food heavy metal monitoring and human body exposure assessments are conducted, and reducing measures are prepared accordingly. To reduce the danger of hazardous substances, many countries provide leaflets and guidelines, develop hazardous heavy metal intake recommendations, and take necessary actions. Hazard control case analyses can assist in securing consumer safety by establishing systematic and reliable hazard control methods.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.217-221
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• 2017

BACKGROUND: For the food safety of cultivated mushroom, information on the safety of agricultural by-products imported as medium substrates for mushroom cultivation is urgently needed. Therefore, this study was performed to detect the presence of heavy metals, residual pesticides, and nutrient component in the imported medium substrates. METHODS AND RESULTS: Six kinds of medium substrates imported from nine countries from 2015 to 2017 were investigated. A mercury analyzer MA-2000 and an inductively coupled plasma spectrometer OPTIMA 7000DV were used to analyze mercury, lead, arsenic, copper, nickel and cadmium. All of these heavy metals were detected at lower level than heavy metal tolerance standard level of by-product fertilizer in Korea. When 246 kinds of residual pesticides were examined by GC and HPLC, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and carbendazim were detected from Egyptian beet pulp, Indian cottonseed meal and cottonseed hull, respectively. The content of nutrient components (water, crude ash, crude fat, crude protein and crude fiber) varied among imported countries and the medium substrates. CONCLUSION:The presence of heavy metals and residual pesticides in imported medium substrates for mushroom cultivation was confirmed. For the safe production of mushroom, this study shows that imported medium materials for mushroom cultivation need to be managed through continuous monitoring.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.342-351
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• 2006

This study was carried out to estimate the contents of heavy metals in big marine 17 kinds of fishes (n=89) which had been sold at wholesale market in Seoul from January to December in 2005. The contents of mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), chrome (Cr), copper (Cu) and arsenic (As) were measured by the mercury analyzer and atomic spectrophotometer (AAS) in the flesh, liver, and gill part. The values of heavy metals in fishes were as follows ($Mean{\pm}SD$, mg/kg). The average contents of heavy metals in the fishes were Hg $0.08{\pm}0.01mg/kg$, Pb $0.17{\pm}0.32mg/kg$, Cd $0.34{\pm}0.07mg/kg$, Cr $0.05{\pm}0.05mg/kg$, Cu $1.14{\pm}0.13mg/kg$, As $0.24{\pm}0.22mg/kg$. Of the heavy metals detected in 3 parts, liver was measured highly in the all heavy metals. Of the heavy metals detected in countries, Hg, Pb, and Cu were measured highly in New Zealand, Cd and As in Norway, Cr in Korea. The range of heavy metal contents in imported and domestic fishes are low level, except of mercury contents of imported Yellow porgy (n=2), compared with regulation value of anther nations and Korea. And the contents of heavy metal in the imported fishes are natural. By correlation coefficients between fish livers of all subjects, a significant correlation was found Hg (r=0.989, p<0.01), Pb (r=0.978, p<0.01), Cd (r=0.991, p<0.01), Cu (r=0.998, p<0.01), As (r=0.198, p<0.05) in fish livers and flesh.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.254-264
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• 2005

This study was conducted to estimate the contents of heavy metals 'Hg, Cd, Pb, As, Zn, Cu, Cr, Mn' in some vegetables which were produced in Korea. The levels of heavy metals were determined using a mercury analyzer, an ICP(inductively coupled plasma spectrometer) and an AAS(atomic absorption spectrophotometer) after wet digestion. The values of heavy metals "mean(mini.~maxi.)" ppm(mg/kg) in some vegetables(raw of perilla leaf, chard, small water dropwort, water dropwort, kale, bud of aralia, pumpkin(round type) and pumpkin(long type) were as follows : Hg : 0.0021(0.0006~0.0054)mg/kg, Cd : 0.0035(ND*~0.0377)mg/kg, Pb : 0.0191(0.0023~0.0928)mg/kg, As : 0.0757(ND~0.5294)mg/kg, Zn : 2.6299(0.4478~6.8567)mg/kg, Cu : 1.0261(0.2046~8.9417)mg/kg, Cr : 0.1535 (0.0240~0.4982)mg/kg, Mn : 3.2476(0.3283~9.8280)mg/kg. This results showed that Mn was generally simillar to previous reports and Cd, Hg, Pb were lower than other reseaches, but As was little higher or Zn, Cu, Cr were higher than the levels of those reported contents in some vegetables on domestic supermarkets in Korea, Although tolerable limit of Hg and Cd is not in a regulation of WHO/FAO, these mean levels(Pb, As, Zn, Cu) are lower than recommended levels of WHO/FAO, Pb "0.1~2.0" mg/kg, As "1.0" mg/kg, Zn "5.0" mg/kg and Cu "0.1~50"mg/kg from vegetables in 'the tolerable contents of food' by the FAO/WHO, therefor some vegetables has set to evaluate their safeties.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.306-314
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• 2021

The application of organic fertilizer could be accompanied by potential hazards to soil and humans due to trace metals. Livestock manure compost·liquefied fertilizer is a well-established approach for the stabilization of nutrients and the reduction of pathogens and odors in manures, which can be evaluated as compost·liquefied. In this study, the livestock manure compost·liquefied fertilizers produced at 333 liquid manure public resource centers and liquid fertilizer distribution centers were collected from May to December 2019. The nutrient content (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), physicochemical properties, and heavy metal content were investigated. The livestock manure compost·liquefied fertilizer was measured using a mechanical maturity measurement device. The organic matter, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead, chromium, copper, nickel, zinc, E. coli (O157:H7), Salmonella, etc. of the livestock manure compost·liquefied fertilizers were analyzed. The average heavy metal content in the livestock manure compost·liquefied fertilizer was as follows: Cr 2.9 mg/kg (0.2~8.7 mg/kg), Cu 20.4 mg/kg (1.6~74.1 mg/kg), Ni 1.3 mg/kg (0.4~4.2 mg/kg), and Zn 79.8 mg/kg (3.0~340.7 mg/kg). Although large-scale organic fertilizer plants and resources recycling centers produce good organic (liquid) fertilizers with proper components, it is necessary to standardize livestock manure compost·liquefied fertilizer in order to facilitate efforts to turn livestock manure into useful resources.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.3.1-3.11
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• 2023

Background: Studies on the risk of mercury (Hg) in Korean fishery products focus primarily on total Hg levels as opposed to methylmercury (MeHg) levels. None of the few studies on MeHg in tuna investigated tuna from Japanese restaurants. Few have evaluated lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) in tuna. Thus, this study aimed to conduct a risk assessment by evaluating heavy metal concentrations in tuna from Japanese restaurants. Methods: Thirty-one tuna samples were collected from Japanese restaurants in the Republic of Korea. They were classified according to region and species. The concentration of heavy metals in the samples was analyzed using the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Food Code method. The rate of exceedance of maximum residue levels (MRLs) and the risk compared to the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI) set by the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives (%PTWI) were evaluated for risk assessment. Results: The mean of MeHg, Pb, Cd and As concentrations were 0.56 ± 1.47 mg/kg, 33.95 ± 3.74 ㎍/kg, 14.25 ± 2.19 ㎍/kg and 1.46 ± 1.89 mg/kg, respectively. No sample exceeded the MRLs of Pb and Cd, but 9.7% of the samples exceeded the MRL of MeHg. The %PTWIs of MeHg, Pb, Cd and As were 4.2037, 0.0162, 0.0244 and 1.1627, respectively. The %PTWI of MeHg by age group and sex was highest among men aged 19-29 years (10.6494), followed by men aged 30-49 years (7.2458) and women aged 19-29 years (4.8307). Conclusions: We found that 3 out of 31 samples exceeded the MRL of MeHg. The %PTWI of MeHg showed significant differences based on age and sex, and the value was likely to exceed a safe level depending on individuals' eating behaviors. Therefore, improved risk management for MeHg is required.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.19-27
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• 2022

Fish that inhabited in the watersheds of Andong, Imha and Yeongju Dam in the upper Nakdong River were analyzed heavy metals by separated into muscle, gill, stomach and liver part. Thirteen fish species such as dark chub, skygager, coreoperca herzi, Korean piscivorous chub, cornet fish, Japan crucian carp, catfish, bass, crucian carp, mandarin fish, carp, long-nosed barbel, Korean sharpbelly were analyzed using ICP/MS. The results of the analysis based on the overall average concentration showed that the muscle part is lower than other parts in all heavy metal items except mercury. The gill part showed high concentrations of chromium, manganese, nickel, and lead, the stomach part has high zinc, and the liver part showed high concentrations of iron, copper, arsenic, and cadmium.