Department of Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju, 26493, Republic of Korea; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, United States.
Department of Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju, 26493, Republic of Korea.
Environ Pollut. 2018 Sep;240:867-874. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.05.025. Epub 2018 May 26.
Railways are typically considered polluted from years of train operation. However, the pollution level of railway in a rural area, which is less exposed to hazardous material from trains and freights, is rarely assessed. This study evaluated common railway pollutants such as heavy metals, total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their chemical properties in the waste soil generated from the renovation of an old railway in rural area of Wonju, South Korea. Furthermore, lab-scale cultivation tests of peas (Pisum sativum) were performed to assess reusability of the waste soil as a soil amendment. Carbonaceous materials were found in the upper layer of the railway (0 to -40 cm) and the concentration of common railway pollutants was comparable to those of the agricultural land nearby. Specifically, total aromatic and aliphatic TPHs were below detection limit; and total PAHs < 1.0 mg kg was 1000-times less than railway functional parts. Applying the carbonaceous waste soil improved the water holding capacity of soil by approximately 10% and sprouts formed on the soil with 10% waste soil composition had greater fresh weight, stem length, and root length than the control. Although this investigation was confined to a small length of the railway route, the results confirm environmental safety and the potential value of the waste generated from rural railways for the first time.
铁路通常被认为是多年来火车运行造成的污染。然而，农村地区铁路的污染水平很少得到评估，因为那里火车和货物带来的危险物质较少。本研究评估了韩国农村地区一条旧铁路改造过程中产生的废土中的常见铁路污染物，如重金属、总石油烃（TPH）和多环芳烃（PAH）及其化学性质。此外，还进行了豌豆（Pisum sativum）的实验室规模培养试验，以评估废土作为土壤改良剂的可再利用性。在铁路的上层（0 到-40 厘米）发现了含碳物质，常见铁路污染物的浓度与附近农田的浓度相当。具体来说，总芳烃和脂肪族 TPH 低于检测限；总多环芳烃<1.0 mg/kg，是铁路功能部件的 1000 倍。施用含碳废土可使土壤持水能力提高约 10%，在含有 10%废土的土壤上形成的芽的鲜重、茎长和根长都大于对照。尽管这项调查仅限于铁路的一小段，但结果首次证实了农村铁路产生的废物的环境安全性和潜在价值。
