Active removal of lead and zinc from polluted soil by in situ sorption to mineral nodules

• Heavy metal pollution of soils is a worldwide problem. This study evaluated the capacity of autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) and zeolite to adsorb zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb) in an artificially polluted soil. Rectangular shaped nodules of AAC and zeolite of 2 cm width, 4 cm length and 2.5 cm height were buried in plastic boxes of soil for 5 months and the soil was irrigated with distilled water every 3 days. The results showed that both AAC and zeolite had good potential for removal of heavy metals from polluted soils, although AAC showed a higher adsorption capacity for Zn than did zeolite. A large proportion of the metals was firmly bound to the soil particles and was not readily released on irrigation with water in the experimental set-up. Compared with the total metal concentration analysed, the available component accounted for 13-39% for Zn and 31-39% for Pb. This might be the reason why the adsorbent materials could only accumulate a fraction of the total metal concentrations.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Heavy metal

adsorption

pollution

speciation

soil.

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

ovr (ämneskategori)