Perchlorate assessment of the Nakdong and Yeongsan watersheds, Republic of Korea

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to conduct a preliminary assessment for perchlorate in surface water, drinking water, and wastewater treatment plant effluent samples obtained from the Nakdong and Yeongsan watersheds in the Republic of Korea. Samples were analyzed for perchlorate using ion chromatography with suppressed conductivity detection (IC-CD) and/or liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry detection (LC-MS/MS). Method reporting limits were 5.0 microg/L for IC-CD and 0.05 microg/L for LC-MS/MS analysis. At perchlorate levels above 5.0 microg/L, IC-CD and LC-MS/MS provided comparable results. The levels of perchlorate detected in the samples procured from the Yeongsan watershed were < 5.0 microg/L in each case. However, Nakdong watershed samples contained perchlorate at levels up to 60 microg/L. The highest concentrations of perchlorate were found in surface water samples, although drinking water contained perchlorate at concentrations up to 35 microg/L. In a subset of samples analyzed by LC-MS/MS, chlorate and bromate also were detected at concentrations ranging from < 0.10 to 44 microg/L and < 0.10 to 2.6 microg/L, respectively. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first perchlorate assessment reported for water sources in the Republic of Korea.

Global patterns and environmental controls of perchlorate and nitrate co-occurrence in arid and semi-arid environments

“…These occurrences have been interpreted to be of natural origin based on the distribution and age of the accumulations and /or the stable isotopic composition of the ClO 4 À and coexisting NO 3 À . ClO 4 À has also been reported in groundwater and surface water in many areas including China, India, South Korea, Antarctica, and the U.S. (Plummer et al, 2006;Rajagopalan et al, 2006;Quinones et al, 2007;Parker et al, 2008;Kannan et al, 2009;Ye et al, 2013). Some of these occurrences could be related to human activities including release of electrochemically produced ClO 4 À and distribution of NO 3 À fertilizers containing ClO 4 À from the Atacama Desert.…”

Perchlorate removal from aqueous solutions by granular ferric hydroxide (GFH)

“…The impact of various anions including chloride (Cl − ), fluoride (F − ), bromate (BrO 3 − ), nitrate (NO 3 − ), sulphate (SO 4 2− ), carbonate (CO 3 2− ) and phosphate (PO 4 3− ) on perchlorate removal by GFH, was investigated at 20 mg L −1 of initial perchlorate concentration. The concentration of competing anions was varied from 20 to 100 mg L −1 (Fig.…”

“…Environmental contamination by perchlorate has also been documented in different Asian countries namely, China [2], Korea [3], and Japan [4]. Perchlorate and its salts are mainly used in missile/rocket propellants and in various industrial applications (e.g.…”

Development of Enhanced Analytical Method for Perchlorate in Food by IC-MS/MS with an Internal Standard

“…하지만 우리나라의 경우 는 6.25 전쟁과 perchlorate 관련 산업이 급속한 발전을 거치면서 perchlorate의 높은 오염 가능성에도 불구하고 매우 제한적으로 perchlorate 오염조사가 실시되었다 (13)(14)(15). 또한, 현재까지 국내의 perchlorate 관련 연구는 전국적인 오염실태와 사람이 섭취하는 주 요 음식물에서의 오염 정도 등에 대한 체계적 연구가 이루어지 지 않은 상태에서 제거 관련 연구만 제한적으로 실시되었다 (16)(17)(18).…”