Prediction of Trace Element Mobility in Contaminated Soils by Sequential Extraction

Abstract

The modified three-step sequential extraction procedure proposed by the Community Bureau of Reference (or Bureau Communautaire de Reference, BCR) was used to predict trace element mobility in soils affected by an accidental spill comprising arsenopyrite- and heavy metal-enriched sludge particles and acid waste waters. The procedure was used to obtain the distribution of both the major (Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, and Mn) and trace elements (As, Bi, Cd, Cu, Pb, Tl, and Zn) in 13 soils of contrasting properties with various levels of contamination and in the sludge itself. The distributions of the major elements enabled us to confirm the main soil fractions solubilized in each of the three steps, and, in turn, to detect the presence of pyritic sludge particles by the high Fe extractability obtained in the third step. Cadmium was identified as being the most mobile of the elements, having the highest extractability in the first step, followed by Zn and Cu, Lead, Tl, Bi, and As were shown to be poorly mobile or nonmobile. In the case of some of the trace elements, the residual fractions decreased at higher levels of contamination, which was attributed to the anthropogenic contributions to the polluted samples. Comparison with soil-plant transfer factors, calculated in plants growing in the affected area, indicated that a relative sequence of trace element mobility was well predicted from data of the first step.

Heavy metals contamination in water and sediments of an urban river in a developing country

“…The overall behavior of heavy metals in an aquatic environment is strongly influenced by the associations of metals with various geochemical phases in sediments (Morillo et al, 2004). Geochemical distribution results have also been used as an aid in predicting potential contaminant mobility and bioavailability (Kabala and Singh, 2001;Pueyo et al, 2003).…”

Pollution, fractionation, and mobility of Pb, Cd, Cu, and Zn in garden and paddy soils from a Pb/Zn mining area

“…To determine the chemical species of heavy metals in soil, a large number of single and multiple sequential extraction procedures, which use a series of reagents to separate the soil metals into different fractions, have been developed (Tessier et al 1979;Shuman 1985;Rauret 1998;Leleyter and Probst 1999). Although the sequential extraction methods suffer from non-selectivity and trace element redistribution among phases during extraction, they are still suggested for evaluating the mobility and potentially bioavailable metal fractions in contaminated soils (Gómez Ariza et al 2000;Kabala and Singh 2001;Abollino et al 2002;Parat et al 2003;Pueyo et al 2003;Banat et al 2005;Hu et al 2006). In some research work, consistent correlations between specific metal fractions and plant metal contents were found.…”

The distribution and accumulation of chromium in the water, sediment and macrophytes of Skadar lake

“…In order to determine the distribution of the Cr in the sediment we applied a modified BCR (the Community Bureau of Reference of the European Union) sequential extraction procedure of the sample sediment (PUEYO et al, 2003). Mobile forms of Cr were determined using five different extracting solutions: cationexchangeable (NH 4 Cl, CaCl 2 , CH 3 COONa), organic acid (oxalic acid) and complexing reagent (EDTA).…”