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2024 Vol.29, Issue 6 Preview Page
Estimation of Regional Background Concentrations of Heavy Metals and Assessment of Soil Contamination in South Korea

국내 중금속 데이터를 이용한 지역별 배경농도 산정 및 오염도 평가

Lee Yeji12
,
Na Iseul12
,
Son Younggyu12*
이예지 12
,
나이슬 12
,
손영규 12*
1Department of Environmental Engineering, Kumoh National Institute of Technology
2Department of Energy Engineering Convergence, Kumoh National Institute of Technology
1국립금오공과대학교 환경공학과
2국립금오공과대학교 에너지공학융합전공
*Corresponding Author
31 December 2024. pp. 107-115
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Abstract

It is essential to use specific background concentrations that reliably represent the characteristics of the area under evaluation. In this study, we analyzed the concentrations of heavy metals using the results of the 2022 surveys of the actual state of soil contamination from 17 metropolitan governments. The overall national averages of natural background concentrations were obtained from the results of the 2021-2022 soil monitoring network and compared with that obtained in previous studies. In addition, the natural, anthropogenic, and natural/anthropogenic background concentrations were separately obtained for each of the 17 metropolitan governments. The contamination factor (CF), one of the most commonly used soil pollution indices, was selected and applied to evaluate the soil contamination levels for the 2022 survey results. Variations ranging from 0.3 to 1.4 times were obtained between the national average natural background concentrations from the 2021-2022 network and those from that commonly used in previous studies in Korea. Moreover, the natural and natural/anthropogenic background concentrations of each metropolitan government varied significantly. Compared to the cases using the national average background concentrations, the soil pollution level of the metropolitan governments could be overestimated or underestimated when using the regional average background concentrations.

Keywords
Surveys of the actual state of soil contamination
Soil monitoring network
Heavy metals
Soil pollution indices
Contamination factor
References

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Information
  • Publisher :The Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment
  • Publisher(Ko) :한국지하수토양환경학회
  • Journal Title :Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
  • Journal Title(Ko) :지하수토양환경
  • Volume : 29
  • No :6
  • Pages :107-115
  • Received Date : 2024-10-25
  • Revised Date : 2024-11-25
  • Accepted Date : 2024-12-10
  • DOI :https://doi.org/10.7857/JSGE.2024.29.6.107
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