Woo-Ri Go

Current research trends for heavy metals of agricultural soils and crop uptake in Korea

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.

Mercury Contents of Medicinal Plants and the Cultivated Soils in Korea

This study was conducted to identify transition characteristics of mercury in several selected medicinal plants and to find the appropriate management for production of safety food. Cultivated soils and medicinal plants were collected at 29 sites for Angelica gigas (Korean angelica root), 68 sites for Platycodon grandiflorum (Balloon flower), 35 sites for codonopsis lanceolata (Deoduck), 36 sites for Dioscorea batatas (Chinese yam), 32 sites for Rehmannia glutinosa (Foxglove), 16 sites for Cnidium officinale makino (cnidium), and 26 sites for Astragalus membranaceus (milk vetch root) during the harvest season of 2013. Mercury in the soils and medicinal roots were analyzed with a Direct Mercury Analyzer. Average content of mercury in soils cultivated medicinal plants was 0.023 mg kg -1 (range: from 0.003 to 0.074 mg kg -1 ) and average content of mercury in medicinal plants was 0.003 mg kg -1 (range: from 0.001 to 0.011 mg kg -1 ), indicating that mercury in the surveyed soils and medicinal plants were not exceeded the Korean regulation.

Chemical Composition and Heavy Metal Contents in Commercial Liquid Pig Manures

Heavy metal concentration as well as chemical composition were surveyed in commercial liquid pig manure to provide the basic information for mitigation research of hazardous material to agro-product. Seventy-five samples of liquid pig manure were collected and analyzed from 2009 to 2010 nationwide. Average contents of T-N, , and were 0.29%, 0.08%, and 0.11%, respectively. The contents of heavy metals ranged from 0.001~0.083 for As, 0.001~0.108 for Cd, 0.002~0.495 for Cr, 0.07~47.8 for Cu, ND~0.005 for Hg, 0.035~1.033 for Ni, ND~0.291 for Pb, and for Zn, respectively. It was noted that among 75 samples, only four samples exceeded the Zn guideline () of liquid fertilizer derived from livestock manure but others were not exceeded the regulation.

Model Development for Estimating Total Arsenic Contents with Chemical Properties and Extractable Heavy Metal Contents in Paddy Soils

This study was performed to estimate total contents of arsenic (As) by stepwise multiple-regression analysis using chemical properties and extractable contents of metal in paddy soil adjacent to abandoned mines. The soil was collected from paddies near abandoned mines. Soil pH, electrical conductively (EC), organic mater (OM), available phosphorus (), and exchangeable cations (Ca, K, Mg, Na) were measured. Total contents of As and extractable contents of metals were analyzed by ICP-OES. From stepwise analysis, it was showed that the contents of extractable As, available phosphorus, extractable Cu, exchangeable K, exchangeable Na, and organic mater significantly influenced the total contents of As in soil (p) + 0.334 Log (extractable-Cu) + 0.186 Log (exchangeable-K) - 0.593 Log (exchangeable-Na) + 0.558 Log (OM). The estimated value in total contents of As was significantly correlated with the measured value in soil (=0.84196, p

Monitoring of Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soils from Consecutive Applications of Commercial Liquid Pig Manure

Monitoring of Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soils from Consecutive Applications of Commercial Liquid Pig Manure Woo-Ri Go, Ji-Young Kim, Ji-Hyock Yoo, Ji-Ho Lee, Anitha Kunhikrishnan, Jeong-Mi Lee, Kye-Hoon Kim, Doo-Ho Kim and Won-Il Kim (Chemical Safety Division, National Academy of Agricultural Science, Suwon 441-707, Korea, Saemangeum Regional Environmental Office, National Institute Environment Research, Jeonju 560-870, Korea, Department of Environmental Horticulture, The University of Seoul, Seoul 130-743, Korea)

Monitoring of Cd, Hg, Pb, and As and Risk Assessment for Commercial Medicinal Plants

BACKGROUND: The current study was carried out to investigate Cd, Hg, Pb and As contaminations in 222 commercial medicinal plants and to estimate the potential health risk through dietary intake of commercial medicinal plants in Korea.METHODS AND RESULTS: The Cd, Hg, Pb, and As in medicinal plants were analyzed by ICP/MS and mercury analyzer.The potential health risk was estimated using risk assessment tools. Total amount of Cd in medicinal plants with 29% samples exceeded the standard limit legislated in `Pharmaceutical Affairs Act` while all plant samples were lower than the standard limit value for As, Hg, and Pb. However, when applying the standard limit for root vegetable (fresh weight) in the Food Sanitation Act, four samples exceeded the standard limit of Pb. For health risk assessment, the values of cancer risk probability were 0.3~5.9×10-7which were less than the acceptable cancer risk of 10-6~10-4for regulatory purpose. Also, Hazard quotientvalues were lower than 1.0.CONCLUSION: Therefore, these results demonstrated that human exposure to Cd, Hg, Pb, and As through dietary intake of commercial medicinal plants might notcause adverse health effects although some medicinal plants were higher than the standard limit values for Cd and Pb.

Heavy Metal(loid) Levels in Paddy Soils and Brown Rice in Korea

There is an increasing concern over heavy metal(loid) contamination of soil in agricultural areas including paddy soils. This study was conducted to monitor the background levels of heavy metal(loid)s, arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) in major rice growing soils and its accumulation in brown rice in Korea. The samples were collected from 82 sites nationwide in the year 2012. The mean and range values of As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn in paddy soils were 4.41 (0.16-18.9), 0.25(0.04-0.82), 13.24 (3.46-27.8), 0.047 (0.01-0.20), 13.60 (3.78-35.0), 21.31 (8.47-36.7), and 54.10 (19.19-103.0) mg kg-1, respectively. This result indicated that the heavy metal(loid) levels in all sampled paddy soils are within the permissible limits of the Korean Soil Environment Conservation Act. The mean and range values of As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn in brown rice were 0.146 (0.04-0.38), 0.024 (0.003-0.141), 4.27(1.26-16.98), 0.0024 (0.001-0.008), 0.345 (0.04-2.77), 0.113 (0.04-0.197), and 22.64 (14.1-35.1) mg kg -1 , respectively. The mean and range BCF (bioconcentration factor) values of As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn in brown rice were 0.101 (0.01-0.91), 0.121 (0.01-0.70), 0.399 (0.05-2.60), 0.061 (0.016-0.180), 0.033 (0.004-0.44), 0.005 (0.003-0.013), and 0.473 (0.19-1.07), respectively, with Zn showing the highest. The results show that the levels of all metal(loid)s in all sampled brown rice are generally within the acceptable limit for human consumption.

Influence of Various Biochars on the Survival, Growth, and Oxidative DNA Damage in the Earthworm Eisenia Fetida

Received: 21 October 2014 / Revised: 28 November 2014 / Accepted: 23 December 2014 Copyright c 2014 The Korean Society of Environmental Agriculture This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Model Development for Estimating Total Soil Contents of Pb and Cd Using Chemical Properties and Extractable Contents in Paddy Soil

Predictive model for estimating total contents of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) was developed by stepwise multiple-regression analysis using chemical properties and extractable contents of metal in paddy soil adjacent to abandoned mines in 2009 and 2010. Soil properties, e.g. pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic matter (OM), available phosphorus (P2O5), and exchangeable cations (i.e. Ca, Na, K, Mg) were measured. Total contents of Cd and Pb as well as extractable contents of metals were analyzed by ICP-OES. Results showed that the total and extractable contents were estimated to be 3.55 and 0.27 mg kg -1 in Cd and 83.38 and 24.32 mg kg -1 in Pb on the average. From stepwise analysis, it was found that the contents of extractable Cd, Zn, Cu, as well as exchangeable Na were significantly influenced on estimation of the total contents of Cd in soil. Moreover, it also showed that the contents of extractable Pb, Zn, and Cu significantly affected estimation of the total contents of Pb in soil. More significant relationship between estimated and measured value in total contents of Pb was observed than those of Cd (R 2 =0.87, p<0.0001). This demonstrates that extractable contents of metal are influenced more on estimation of total contents of Cd and Pb in soil than soil properties.

Distribution of Arsenic Fraction in Soil Around Abandoned Mining Area and Uptake by Rice

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 10.98 mg kg -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 0.09 mg kg -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.