A Soluble Humic Substance for the Simultaneous Removal of Cadmium and Arsenic from Contaminated Soils

Dongxue Bi, Guodong Yuan, Jing Wei, Liang Xiao, Lirong Feng, Fande Meng and Jie Wang
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Dongxue Bi: Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, Shandong, China
Guodong Yuan: School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing 526061, China
Jing Wei: Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, Shandong, China
Liang Xiao: Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, Shandong, China
Lirong Feng: Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, Shandong, China
Fande Meng: College of Resource and Environment, Anhui Science and Technology University, Chuzhou 233100, China
Jie Wang: Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, Shandong, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 24, 1-12

Abstract: With abundant oxygen-containing functional groups, a humic substance (HS) has a high potential to remediate soils contaminated by heavy metals. Here, HS was first extracted from a leonardite and analyzed for its chemical compositions and spectroscopic characteristics. Then it was assessed for its ability as a washing agent to remove Cd and As from three types of soils (red soil, black soil, and fluvo-aquic soil) that were spiked with those contaminants (Cd: 40.5–49.1 mg/kg; As: 451–584 mg/kg). The operational washing conditions, including the pH and concentration of the HS, washing time and cycles, and liquid–soil ratio, were assessed for Cd and As removal efficiency. At pH 7, with an HS concentration (3672 mg C/L) higher than its critical micelle concentration and a liquid–soil ratio of 30, a single washing for 6–12 h removed 41.9 mg Cd/kg and 199.3 mg As/kg from red soil, 33.5 mg Cd/kg and 291.5 mg As/kg from black soil, and 30.4 mg Cd/kg and 325.5 mg As/kg from fluvo-aquic soil. The removal of Cd and As from the contaminated soils involved the complexation of Cd and As with the carboxyl and phenolic groups of HS. Outcomes from this research could be used to develop a tailor-made HS washing agent for the remediation of Cd- and As-contaminated soils with different properties.

Keywords: soil pollution; soil remediation; cadmium; arsenic; humic substance; FTIR (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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