Background

In the last two decades, there has been a successive aggravation and deterioration in soil quality and groundwater because of rapid urbanization, industrialization, intensive farming, and so forth, while a large amount of various pollutants were piled up in the soil and water systems in Asian countries. This phenomenon, in turn, caused further deterioration in environmental quality and posed a serious risk to human health.

Codex and WHO have recently proposed a new standard of some hazardous chemical concentrations in major agricultural products such as rice grain, wheat and vegetables, and some Asian countries have revised the critical concentrations (or regulation ) of heavy metals or pollutants in the soils and crops in Asian countries in last five years, including Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. With rice being an important staple crop in many Asian countries, it becomes a matter of urgency to reduce hazardous chemical concentrations such as Cd, As, Pb, Cu, and Zn, especially in paddy soil and rice grains of Cd, Pb and As.

Taiwan EPA will make a revision on the regulation of heavy metals in rural soil, general public land and industrial park soils in the end of 2013. This revision of regulation of heavy metals in soils of Taiwan are regarded with more consideration and evaluation on the health risk assessment of heavy metals in soils and crops, including As, Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cr (VI), Cr (III), Ni, and Hg.

Recently, it was reported that 25% of wells in Bangladesh are polluted by arsenic and that more than 30 million people are left with no other option but to drink As-polluted water from the groundwater. Since then, intensive surveys have been conducted in various Asian countries where people are fully dependent on underground water for drinking and also for irrigation of rice production. Unfortunately, arsenic in groundwater pollution is a serious problem not only in Bangladesh, but also in many other Asian countries, such as China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, India, Thailand,  Pakistan, and also in southern Taiwan in last 3 years. It has also been reported that the mechanism of groundwater pollution by arsenic is closely associated with geology and agricultural practices, particularly irrigation water in southern Taiwan in last 3 years.

This international seminar aims to identify and develop reliable, economically feasible and effective remediation technologies for the polluted soil and groundwater by radioactive-Cs and non-radioactive relevant chemicals, in particular heavy metals of As, Cd, Pb, and As.

Objectives

•To share and exchange relevant information on effective and economical viable remediation technologies for reducing target radioactive and non-radioactive chemicals in the soil and groundwater systems of polluted areas.
•To review and propose effective cultural practices to minimize the uptake of target radioactive and non-radioactive species by crops.
• To collect and review biological, chemical and physical remediation technologies and/or soil management practices for effectively remediating targeted radioactive and non-radioactive species in the polluted arable soils.

Cd and As Contamination of Agricultural Products and Countermeasures in Japan     (1195)
Dr. Tomohito ARAO
Principal Research Coordinator, National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Japan

The Relationships of Cd Concentration in Arable Soil and Different Rice Varieties and the Food Safety Evaluation of Different Brown Rice Varieties in Taiwan     (878)
Mr. Horng-Yu GUO
Division Chief, Division of Agricultural Chemistry, Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), Taiwan

The Relationships of Heavy Metals Concentration in Arable Soil, Rice Varieties and Vegetables and the Food Safety Evaluation of Agricultural Crop Production in Thailand     (971)
Dr. Orathai SUKREEYAPONGSE
Director, Office of Science for Land Development Land Development Department, Thailand

The Relationships between Cd Concentration in Arable Soils and Different Vegetables and the Evaluation of Food Safety of Vegetables in Taiwan     (798)
Ms. Yu-Wen LIN
Assistant Researcher, Agricultural Information Service Lab., Division of Agricultural Chemistry, Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), Taiwan

Advanced Physico-chemical Method to Restore Agricultural Soils Contaminated with Cd and Radioactive Cesium     (1002)
Dr. Tomoyuki MAKINO
Senior Reseracher, Soil Environmental Division
National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Japan

Smart Biochar Technology for Remediation of Toxic Metals in Soils     (1275)
Prof. Yong Sik OK
Director, Korea Biochar Research Center, Department of Biological
Environment, Kangwon National University, Korea

Monitoring of Radio-cesium Contamination in Farmland Soil in Eastern Japan     (835)
Dr. Kazunori KOHYAMA
Senior Researcher, Natural Resources Inventory Center
National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Japan

Mitigation of Radioactive Contamination from Farmland Environment and Agricultural Products     (880)
Dr. Takuro SHINANO
Tohoku Agricultural Research Center (TARC)
National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Japan

Development of Low-Cd Rice by Mutation with Ion-beam     (828)
Dr. Satoru ISHIKAWA
Senior Researcher, Soil Environmental Division
National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Japan

Effect of Iron Plaque and Rice Genotypes on As Accumulation in Rice Plants Grown in As-contaminated Paddy Soils     (927)
Prof. Dr. Dar-Yuan LEE
Distinguished Professor of Soil Chemistry, Department of Agricultural
Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Comparison of Various Single Chemical Extraction Methods for Predicting the Bioavailability of Arsenic in Paddy Soils     (910)
Dr. Won-Il KIM
Research Scientist, Chemical Safety Division, National Academy of Agricultural Science (NAAS)
 Rural Development Administration (RDA), Korea

New Regulation Development for Soil Remediation of Heavy Metal Contaminated Sites and Health Risk-based Approaches in Taiwan     (850)
Prof. Dr. Zueng-Sang CHEN
Distinguished Professor of Pedology and Soil Environmental Quality, Department of Agricultural Chemistry, National Taiwan University, Taiwan

In-situ Immobilization of Selected Heavy Metals in Soils Using Agricultural Wastes and Industrial By-products     (886)
Prof. Dr. Che Fauziah ISHAK
Deputy Dean, Faculty of Agriculture
Department of Land, University of Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia

Heavy Metal Contamination and Remediation Practices of Soils in the Philippines     (1176)
Dr. Rodolfo O. ILAO
Supervising Science Research Specialist, Philippine Council for Agriculture,
Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD),
Philippines

Level of Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soil and Water After Mount Sinabung Eruption in North Sumatera, Indonesia     (1445)
Dr. Asep NUGRAHA
Agrochemical Residue Laboratory, Indonesian Agricultural Environment Research Institute Indonesia

Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soil and Using Plants to Clean Up Contaminated Soils (Phytoremediation) in Vietnam     (981)
Dr. Tran Minh TIEN
Head, Soil Genesis and Classification Research Department
Soils and Fertilizers Research Institute (SFRI), Vietnam

(Absent)
Arsenic and Other Heavy Metal Status in Soils and Crops in Bangladesh
Dr. Baktear HOSSAIN
Principal Scientific Officer, Soils Unit, Natural Resources Management Division
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, Bangladesh

Land Use and Land Degradation Situation in Cambodia, and Possible Solutions     (1527)
Dr. Sovuthy PHEAV
Director, Department of Agricultural Land Resources Management
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Cambodia

Proceedings (853)