Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Apr 9;46(5):170.
doi: 10.1007/s10653-024-01957-w.

Fluorine contamination, mobility, and risks in soils at a phosphate-gypsum waste landfill: a new analytical method and comparison with previous methods

Seok-Young Oh  1 , Hyeongseok Kim  2 , Hye-On Yoon  3
Affiliations

Fluorine contamination, mobility, and risks in soils at a phosphate-gypsum waste landfill: a new analytical method and comparison with previous methods

Seok-Young Oh et al. Environ Geochem Health. .

Abstract

This study used a new X-ray fluorescence (XRF)-based analytical method with better precision and sensitivity to evaluate the fluorine concentrations in soil. It was hypothesized that the XRF method with a pellet-synthesizing procedure may effectively analyze the fluorine concentrations in soil with ease and reliability. The total fluorine concentrations determined using XRF were compared with those determined using three different types of analytical protocols-incineration/distillation, alkaline fusion, and aqua regia extraction procedures. Among the three procedures, the incineration/distillation procedure did not show reliable precision and reproducibility. In contrast, the total fluorine concentrations determined using the XRF analysis were linearly correlated with those determined using the alkaline fusion and aqua regia extraction procedures. Based on the results of the Korean waste leaching procedure and toxicity characteristics leaching procedure, the leachability of fluorine from soil and waste was not directly related to total fluorine concentrations in soil. Risk assessment also revealed that the fluorine-rich soils did not show non-carcinogenic toxic effects, despite exceeding the regulation level (800 mg/kg) in South Korea for total fluorine concentrations in soil. Our results suggest that XRF analysis in combination with the newly developed pretreatment method may be a promising alternative procedure for easily and rapidly determining the total fluorine concentration in soil. However, further efforts are needed to evaluate fluorine leachability and its associated risks in fluorine-contaminated soils.

Keywords: Alkaline fusion; Aqua regia extraction; Fluorine; Risk assessment; TCLP; XRF.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. An, J. S., Kim, J. A., & Yoon, H. O. (2013). A review on the analytical techniques for the determination of fluorine contents in soil and solid phase samples. Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment, 18, 112–122. written in Korean and abstract in English. - DOI
    1. An, J. S., Kim, K. H., Yoon, H. O., & Seo, J. (2012). Application of wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence technique to determine soil fluorine with consideration of iron content in the matrix. Spectrochimica Acta Part b: Atomic Spectroscopy, 69, 38–43. - DOI
    1. Arnesen, A. K. M., Abrahamsen, G., & Krogstad, S. T. (1995). Aluminium-smelters and fluoride pollution of soil and soil solution in Norway. Science of the Total Environment, 163, 39–53. - DOI
    1. Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. (2006). A protocol for the derivation of environmental and human health soil quality guidelines. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
    1. Choo, C. O., Kim, J. T., Chung, I. M., Kim, N. W., & Jeong, G. C. (2008). Geochemical aspects of groundwater in granite area and the origin of fluoride with emphasis on the water-rock interaction. Journal of Engineering Geology, 18, 103–115. written in Korean and abstract in English.

LinkOut - more resources

-