Effect of aging on arsenic and lead fractionation and availability in soils: Coupling sequential extractions with diffusive gradients in thin-films technique
Introduction
As and Pb often coexist at elevated concentrations in contaminated soils resulting from mining, smelting and insecticide application [1]. After addition to soils, the bioavailability of soluble As and Pb to plants decreases with time, which is termed aging [2]. Though the specific mechanism of aging is not well understood, the changes in As and Pb bioavailability during aging depend on their partitioning process in soils [3]. With time, their distribution in soils changes from more available forms to less available forms [4], [5].
Soil properties control bioavailability of As and Pb and therefore influence their potential risk in contaminated soils. Arsenic bioavailability in soils is governed by Fe hydroxides, which are strongly affined with dissolved organic carbon (DOC), so As competes with DOC for sorption sites [6]. For Pb, its solubility in soils is controlled by sorption onto Fe hydroxides and OC [7]. Also, DOC plays a key role in controlling Pb solubility in soils, and in fact most of labile Pb in alkaline soils exists as Pb–DOC complexes [8]. As a metalloid, As exists in soils as an oxyanion whereas Pb is present as a cation. As such, arsenic solubility increases with pH while Pb solubility decreases in soils [9], [10]. However, their bioavailability is related to other soil properties and so it is soil specific. Hence, it is necessary to examine their changes in different soils.
Sequential extraction has been widely used to determine the fractionation and bioavailability of metals in soils [11], [12]. The method identifies different pools of metals in soils with different bioavailability. However, the method does not target metals associated with discrete soil phases due to non-specificity and redistribution during extraction [13]. Still it provides valuable information regarding metal bioavailability in soils.
The diffusive gradients in thin-films (DGT) technique has been successfully used to predict metal bioavailability to plants [14]. The dynamic sampling technique integrates a wide range of key soil properties that impact metal release/adsorption [15], [16]. In addition, it mimics plant uptake in soils by lowering metal concentration locally and inducing diffusive supply and release of metals from complexes and solid phase [16]. Hence, the DGT technique coupled with sequential fraction was used to examine the changes in fractionation and bioavailability of As and Pb in soils during aging.
In this study, three soils with different properties were amended with different levels of As and Pb. Changes in their fractionation and bioavailability with time in the soils were measured using sequential extraction and DGT technique. The objectives were to investigate (1) how the amendment of As and Pb influenced the soil properties; (2) the aging effect on fractionation and bioavailability of As and Pb in soils; and (3) correlation of sequential extraction data to DGT labile fractions.
Section snippets
Soil sampling and characterization
Bulk samples of topsoil (0–20 cm) were collected from three sites in China: Tianjin (TJ), Lanzhou (LZ) and Tai’an (TA). They were air-dried, passed through a 2-mm sieve, and stored in plastic containers before use. Particle size analysis was carried out by a laser diffractometer (Mastersizer 2000, Malvern, UK). Soil pH was measured at a 1:5 solution-to-solid ratio in 0.01 M CaCl2 after shaking for 1 h. Total organic and inorganic carbon in the soils was measured using a total carbon analyzer
Results and discussion
Three soils with different properties were spiked with As and Pb to determine their impact on changes in fractionation and bioavailability of As and Pb during 33-week of aging. Total concentrations of As and Pb in the soils were 5.0–7.5 mg kg−1 and 15.2–19.4 mg kg−1 (Table 1). They were not contaminated according to the Chinese Environmental Quality Standard for Soils (15 mg kg−1 As and 35 mg kg−1 Pb) (GB 15618-1995).
Conclusion
The present study showed that amendment with high level of As (400 mg kg−1) increased the contents of DOC and soluble Fe in soils whereas high loading of Pb (1500 mg kg−1) acidified the soil solution along with increasing soluble Fe. Data on CDGT and water-soluble As and Pb demonstrated that the alkaline soil (LZ) was less effective in As sorption during the aging than the neutral and acidic soils (TJ and TA). Similarly, the acidic soil (TA) was less effective in Pb sorption than neutral and
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21207062 and 21277070), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK2012311), Special Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education, Ministry of Education of China (20120091120016), and the Program for Postgraduates Research and Innovation in Jiangsu Province (No. CXZZ13_0058).
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