Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the distribution and characteristics of heavy metals in the fallout dust deposits at the middle and high schools. We collected the samples at 60 schools in Kongju, Incheon and Daejeon on from September to November, 2001, and analyzed Cadmium(Cd), Copper(Cu), Lead(Pb) and Zinc(Zn) from them. Zn was the highest level as 551 $\pm$ 79.9 ppm, and the next order were Pb, Cu, and Cd as 146.0 $\pm$ 15.2 ppm, 98.7 $\pm$ 14.4 ppm and 5.21 $\pm$ 0.76 ppm, respectively. The rates of schools exceeding the soil environmental standards were 56.3% in Cd, 53.3% in Zn, 51.5% in Pb, and 31.7% in Cu, respectively. Cd and Pb were the highest levels at schools in Daejeon as 6.30 $\pm$ 0.87 ppm and 171 $\pm$ 26.1 ppm, respectively. Cu and Zn were the highest levels at schools in Incheon as 176.2 $\pm$ 55.8 ppm and 919.8 $\pm$ 185.7 ppm, respectively. At Incheon, Cu and Zn levels were significantly higher than Kongju(p=0.04l), and Daejeon(p=0.016), respectively. Total pollution index(PI) of heavy metals was 1.51 $\pm$ 0.16. PI was 2.00 $\pm$ 0.51 on Incheon, 1.50 $\pm$ 0.13 on Daejeon, and 0.92 $\pm$ 0.24 on Kongju. Correlations were 0.675 (p<0.05) between Cu and Cd, 0.663(p<0.05) between Cu and Zn, and 0.477 between Cd and Pb. In conclusion, Among heavy metals in the fallout dust deposits at schools, Cu and Zn were the highest levels at Incheon, Cd and Pb were the highest levels at Daejeon.