Abstract
To investigate the dispersion patterns and the characteristics of heavy metal contamination due to urbanisation and industrialisation, soils and dusts collected from the Seoul area were analysed for Cu, Pb, Zn and Cd. The metal concentrations in most soils and dusts are higher than the world averages. The pollution index ((Σ Metal concentrations in soils/Permissible level for metal)÷(Number of metals)) of soils and dusts is > 1 in most of the Seoul area, a result that concurs with the industrialisation and urbanisation index of the Seoul area. The soils are contaminated with Cu, Zn, Cd and particularly Pb. This suggests that the contamination of the soils in the Seoul area are mainly caused by vehicular emissions. The pollution index of soil is the highest in the Kuro area where Cu and Zn contamination in soils are due to the indigenous brass and bronze factories. From the discriminant analysis, the Seoul area may be partitioned into control, traffic and industrialized areas by the metal concentrations in the order of Zn > Cu > Pb.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adriano, D.C. 1986. Trace Elements in the Terrestrial Environment. Springer-Verlag, New York.
Berrow, M.L. and Reaves, G.A. 1984. Background levels of trace elements in soils. In: R. Perry (ed.), Proc. Int. Conf. Environ. Contamination, pp. 333–40. CEP Consultants Ltd., Edinburgh.
Craul, P.J. 1985. A description of urban soils and their desired characteristics. J. Arboricult., 2, 330–9.
Chon, H.T. and Choi, W.J. 1992. A geochemical study on the dispersion of heavy metal elements in dusts and soils in the urban and industrial environments. J. Korean Inst. Mining Geol., 25, 317–36 (in Korean).
Culbard, E.B., Thornton, I., Watt, J., Wheatley, M., Moorcroft, S. and Thompson, M. 1988. Metal contamination in British urban dusts and soils. J. Environ. Qual., 17, 226–34
Davies, J.C. 1973. Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology. John & Sons, New York.
Howarth, R.J. 1983. Handbook of Exploration Geochemistry, Vol. 2. Statistics and Data Analysis in Geochemical Prospecting. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Kabata-Pendias, A and Pendias, H. 1984. Trace Elements in Soils and Plants. CRC Press, Boca Raton.
Kim, J.Y. and Chon, H.T. 1993. Geochemical dispersion of Cu, Pb, Zn and Cd in soils and dusts in the Seoul area. J. Korean Inst. Mineral and Energy Resources, 30, 163–76.
Kloke, A., Sauerbeck, D.R. and Vetter, R. 1984. The contamination of plants and soils with heavy metals and the transport of metals in terrestrial food chain. In: Nriagu, J.O. (ed.), Changing Metal Cycles and Human Health, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Nimick, D.A. and Moore, J.M. 1991. Prediction of water-soluble metal concentrations in fluvially deposited tailings sediments, Upper Clark Fork Valley, Montana, U.S.A., Appl. Geochem., 6, 635–46.
Nishida, H., Miyai, M., Tada, F. and Suzuki, S 1982. Computation of the index of pollution caused by heavy metals in river sediments. Environ. Pollut. (series B), 4, 241–8.
Ramsey, M.H., Thompson, M. and Banerjee, E.K. 1987. Realistic assessment of analytical data quality from inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Anal. Proc., 24, 260–5.
Seoul-si. 1992. Annual Report of Statistics in Seoul 1991.
Shacklette, H.T. and Bonerngen, J.G. 1984. Element concentrations in soils and other surficial materials of the conterminous United States. U.S. Prof. Paper 1270, 1–105.
Thornton, I. 1990. Soil contamination in urban area. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 82, 121–40.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chon, HT., Kim, KW. & Kim, JY. Metal contamination of soils and dusts in Seoul metropolitan city, Korea. Environ Geochem Health 17, 139–146 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00126082
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00126082