• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.907-915
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• 2018

With the increase of metal usage in various industries, metal pollution and ecological toxicity in the environmental system have become a significant concern. A geo-statistical index has been widely used to determine contamination level with normalization through a background value. In this study, geo-statistical indexes such as an enrichment factor, accumulation index, and potential ecological risk index were used to assess metal pollution in soil at locations associated with shipbuilding manufacturing industries. Metal contamination, especially of Cu and Pb, was observed in some samples located closer to manufacturing sites. Enrichment factor and accumulation (IGEO) values were indicative of concerning levels of soil contamination in specific samples, and the soil contamination could be induced by anthropogenic sources. In further study, after more detailed sampling for soil and potential pollution sources, high interpretation techniques such as Pb isotope analysis and X-ray analysis will be needed to investigate source identification.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.607-612
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• 2013

Soil ecological risk assessment requires terrestrial toxicity data based on trophic levels including plants, earthworms, nematodes, and springtails. To expand the trophic levels, it is needed to consider primary producer algae, nearly distributed in terrestrial environment, as representative terrestrial test species. In this study, we collected research cases focused on soil-related test species and exposure media from SCI papers, and analyzed exposure media, test species, test chemicals, and other test methods, for reviewing research trends of soil-related algal toxicity. Up to now, in the soil-related algal toxicity, test species were 8 cases (Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus bijugatus, Chlorococcum infusionum, Scenedesmus subspicatus, Nostoc linckia, Synechococcus elongatus, and Chlorococcum sp.) and endpoints were cell count or photosynthetic pigment content. Also, 5 of exposure media were liquid medium, soil extracts, porewater, agar medium, and soil. Most of papers used algae isolated from natural soils or soil extracts. There were only one case for assessing algal toxicity in soil medium. More researches regarding algal toxicity in soil environments need to be conducted consistently.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.87-96
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• 2007

Risk assessment was carried out in order to improve the remediation and management strategy on a contaminated gunnery site, where a flood control reservoir is under construction nearby. Six chemicals, including explosive chemicals and heavy metals, which were suspected to possess risk to humans by leaching events from the site were the target pollutants for the assessment. A site-specific conceptual site model was constructed based on effective, reasonable exposure pathways to avoid any overestimation of the risk. Also, conservative default values were adapted to prevent underestimation of the risk when site-specific values were not available. The risks of the six contaminants were calculated by API's Decision Support System for Exposure and Risk Assessment with several assumptions. In the crater-formed-area(Ac), the non-carcinogenic risks(i.e., HI values) of TNT(Tri-Nitro-Toluene) and Cd were slightly larger than 1, and for RDX(Royal Demolition Explosives), over 50. The total non-carcinogenic risk of the whole gunnery range calculated to a significantly high value of 62.5. Carcinogenicity of Cd was estimated to be about $10^{-3}$, while that of Pb was about $5\;{\times}\;10^{-4}$, which greatly exceeded the generally acceptable carcinogenic risk level of $10^{-4}{\sim}10^{-6}$. The risk assessment results suggest that an immediate remediation practice for both carcinogens and non-carcinogens are required before the reservoir construction. However, for more accurate risk assessment, more specific estimations on condition shifts due to the construction of the reservoir are required, and more over, the effects of the pollutants to the ecosystem is also necessary to be evaluated.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.414-431
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• 2016

There are numerous closed and abandoned mines in Korea, from which diverse heavy metals (e.g., As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) are released into the surrounding soil, groundwater, surface water, and crops, potentially resulting in detrimental effects on the health of nearby residents. Therefore, we performed human risk assessments of two abandoned metal mines, Yanggok (YG) and Samsanjeil (SJ). The exposure parameters used in this assessment were specific to residents near mines and the included exposure pathways were relevant to areas around metal mines. The computed total excess carcinogenic risks for both areas exceeded the acceptable carcinogenic risk ($1{\times}10^{-6}$), indicating that these areas are likely unsafe due to a carcinogenic hazard. In contrast, the non-carcinogenic risks of the two areas differed among the studied receptors. The hazard indices were higher than the unit risk (=1.0) for male and female adults in YG and male adults in SJ, suggesting that there are non-carcinogenic risks for these groups in the study areas. However, the hazard indices for children in YG and female adults and children in SJ were lower than the unit risk. Consumption of groundwater and crops grown in the area were identified as major exposure pathways for carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic hazards in both areas. Finally, the dominant metals contributing to carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks were As and As, Cu, and Pb, respectively. In addition, the carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks of YG were evaluated to be 10 and 4 times higher than those of SJ, respectively, resulted from the relatively higher exposure concentration of As in groundwater within SJ area. Because of lacking of several exposure parameters, some of average daily dose (ADD) could not be computed in this study. Furthermore, it is likely that the ADDs of crop-intake pathway included some errors because they were calculated using soil exposure concentrations and bioconcentration factor (BCF) rather than using crop exposure concentrations.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.283-296
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• 2024

This study examined the distribution of airborne metals concentrations and conducted a risk assessment in PM-10 in Gwangju from 2014 to 2022. There were a total of six points, and the concentration of heavy metals at each point was highest in the order of Pyeong-dong(1.5472 ㎍/m³ ) > Nongseong-dong(1.2093 ㎍/m³ ) > Geonguk-dong(1.0100 ㎍/m³ ) > Duam-dong(0.9684 ㎍/m³ ) > Seo-dong(0.9515 ㎍/m³ ) > Nodae-dong(0.8321 ㎍/m³ ). In recent years, the concentration of heavy metals in the atmosphere has generally risen, accompanied by an increase in heavy metals in the soil. The average seasonal concentrations were in the following order: spring(1.4448 ㎍/m³ ) > winter(1.2939 ㎍/m³ ) > fall(0.8303 ㎍/m³ ) > summer (0.5928 ㎍/m³ ). The atmospheric heavy metals most correlated with PM-10 were Ca(0.69), Fe(0.62), Al(0.62) and Mg(0.60). Within the acceptable risk level (1.0E-06) set in this study, heavy metals in the atmosphere were found to have the most excess cancer risk, and the integrated non-cancer risk was as low as 1 or less.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.5 s.174
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• pp.535-545
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• 2005

Environmental survey from some abandoned metal mine areas was undertaken on to assess the risk of adverse health effects on human exposure to arsenic influenced by past Au-Ag mining activities. Elevated levels of As were found in tailings from the studied mine areas. This high concentration may have a impact on soils and waters around the tailing piles. In order to perform the human risk assessment, chemical analysis data of soils, rice grains and waters fur As have been used. The HQ values fer As via the rice grain and groundwater consumption were significantly higher compared with other exposure pathways in all metal mine areas. However, there were minimal soil and water dermal contact risks. The resulting Hl values of As from the Dongil, Okdong and Hwacheon mine areas were higher than 5.0, and their toxic risk due to drinking water and rice grain was strong in these mine areas. The cancer risk of being exposed to As by the rice grain route from the Dongil, Okdong and Hwacheon mine areas was $5.2\times10^{-4},\;6.0\times10^{-4}\;and\;8.1\times10^{-4}$, respectively. The As cancer risk via the exposure pathway of drinking water from these mine areas exceeded the acceptable risk of 1 in 10,000 fer regulatory purposes. Thus, the daily intakes of groundwater and rice grain by the local residents from the Dongil, Okdong and Hwacheon mine areas can pose a potential health threat if exposed by long-term arsenic exposure.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.383-397
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• 1999

For sites to be investigated, the results of such an investigation can be used in determining foals for cleanup, quantifying risks, determining acceptable and unacceptable risk, and developing cleanup plans t hat do not cause unnecessary delays in the redevelopment and reuse of the property. To do this, it is essential that an appropriately detailed study of the site be performed to identify the cause, nature, and extent of contamination and the possible threats to the environment or to any people living or working nearby through the analysis of samples of soil and soil gas, groundwater, surface water, and sediment. The migration pathways of contaminants also are examined during this phase. Key aspects of cost-effective site assessment to help standardize and accelerate the evaluation of contaminated soils at sites are to provide a simple step-by-step methodology for environmental science/engineering professionals to calculate risk-based, site-specific soil levels for contaminants in soil. Its use may significantly reduce the time it takes to complete soil investigations and cleanup actions at some sites, as well as improve the consistency of these actions across the nation. To achieve the effective site assessment, it requires the criteria for choosing the type of standard and setting the magnitude of the standard come from different sources, depending on many factors including the nature of the contamination. A general scheme for site-specific assessment consists of sequential Phase I, II, and III, which is defined by workplan and soil screening levels. Phase I are conducted to identify and confirm a site's recognized environmental conditions resulting from past actions. If a Phase 1 identifies potential hazardous substances, a Phase II is usually conducted to confirm the absence, or presence and extent, of contamination. Phase II involve the collection and analysis of samples. And Phase III is to remediate the contaminated soils determined by Phase I and Phase II. However, important factors in determining whether a assessment standard is site-specific and suitable are (1) the spatial extent of the sampling and the size of the sample area; (2) the number of samples taken: (3) the strategy of taking samples: and (4) the way the data are analyzed. Although selected methods are recommended, application of quantitative methods is directed by users having prior training or experience for the dynamic site investigation process.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.362-370
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• 2022

The assessment of specific impacts on the environment is a preventive measure for environmental protection which is based on the definition and proposal of measures that can prevent harmful effects, reduce or eliminate them. In the physical sense, vibration is the oscillating motion of an object with the effect of internal or external forces applied to it. People who touch a vibrating surface or object will feel these vibrations. In general, there are two types of vibration exposure. The first are the vibrations of the hands and arms transmitted by the held parts of tools or machinery. The second are whole-body vibrations transmitted from a seat or surface to a motorized car. The risk of injury to workers exposed to vibration varies depending on the size, frequency, type, duration of exposure, and organ affected. The purpose of this paper is to review the measurements of vibrations in the Kosovo Energy Corporation in the mine Sibovc Southwest, where coal with a rotary excavator is exploited and the evaluation of vibrations for working conditions for workers working in that environment and improving working conditions for the measurement of vibrations we have used the device Minimate DS 078, the purpose of such environmental impact assessment is to collect data and predict the harmful impacts on the environment, namely the impact on water, air, soil, life and health of as well as identify and propose measures that could prevent, reduce or eliminate altogether.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 1999.04a
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• pp.149-156
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• 1999

In the United States (U.S.), the monitored natural attenuation (MNA) approach has been used as an alternative remedial option for organic and inorganic compounds retained in soil and dissolved in groundwater. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines the MNA as“in-situ naturally-occurring processes include biodegradation, diffusion, dilution, sorption, volatilization, and/or chemical and biochemical stabilization of contaminants and reduce contaminant toxicity, mobility or volume to the levels that are protective of human health and the environment”. The Department of Soil Environment. National Institute Environmental Research (NIER) is in the process for demonstrating the MNA approach as a potential remedial option for the BTEX contaminated site in Uiwang City. The project is charactering the research site in terms of the nature and extend of contamination, biological degradation rate, and geochemical and hydrological properties. The microbial-degradation rate and effectiveness of nutrient and redox supplements will be determined through laboratory batch and column tests. The geochemical process will be monitored for determining the concentration changes of chemical species involved in the electron transfer processes that include methanogenesis, sulfate and iron reduction, denitrification, and aerobic respiration. Through field works, critical soil and hydrogeologic parameters will be acquired to simulate the effects of dispersion, advection, sorption, and biodegradation on the fate and transport of the dissolved-phase BTEX plume using Bioplume III model. The objectives of this multi-years research project are (1) to evaluate the MNA approach using the BTEX contaminated site in Uiwang City, (2) to establish a standard protocol for future application of the approach, (3) to investigate applicability of the passive approach as a secondary treatment remedy after active treatments. In this presentation, the overall picture and philosophy behind the MNA approach will be reviewed. Detailed discussions of the site characterization/monitoring plans and risk-based decision-making processes for the demonstration site will be included.