Chromium Transport and Fate in Vadose Zone: Effects of Simulated Acid Rain and Colloidal Types

Wenjing Zhang, Kaichao Zhao, Bo Wan, Zhentian Liang, Wenyan Xu and Jingqiao Li
Additional contact information
Wenjing Zhang: Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun 130021, China
Kaichao Zhao: Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun 130021, China
Bo Wan: Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun 130021, China
Zhentian Liang: Key Laboratory of Groundwater Resources and Environment, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun 130021, China
Wenyan Xu: Chemical Geological Prospecting Institute of Liaoning Province Co., Ltd., Jinzhou 121007, China
Jingqiao Li: Songliao Water Resources Commission, Ministry of Water Resources, Changchun 130021, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-17

Abstract: Chromium (Cr) can enter groundwater through rainfall infiltration and significantly affects human health. However, the mechanisms by which soil colloids affect chromium transport are not well investigated. In this study, column experiments were conducted to simulate the chromium (Cr) transport mechanism in two typical soils (humic acid + cinnamon soil and montmorillonite + silt) in the vadose zone of a contaminated site and the effects of acid rain infiltration conditions. The results showed that Mt colloids have less influence on Cr. The fixation of Cr by colloid mainly occurs in the cinnamon soil layer containing HA colloid. The adsorption efficiency of Cr was increased by 12.8% with the addition of HA. In the HA-Cr system, the introduction of SO4 2? inhibited the adsorption of Cr, reducing the adsorption efficiency from 31.4% to 24.4%. The addition of Mt reduced the adsorption efficiency of Cr by 15%. In the Mt-Cr system, the introduction of SO4 2? had a promoting effect on Cr adsorption, with the adsorption efficiency increasing from 4.4% to 5.1%. Cr release was inhibited by 63.88% when HA colloid was present, but the inhibition owing to changes in acidity was only 14.47%. Mt colloid promotes Cr transport and increases the leaching rate by 2.64% compared to the absence of Mt. However, the effect of acidity change was not significant. Intermittent acid rain will pose a higher risk of pollutant release. Among the influencing factors, the type of colloid had the most significant influence on the efficiency of Cr leaching. This study guides the quantitative assessment of groundwater pollution risk caused by Cr in the vadose zone.

Keywords: acid rain; colloid; chromium; release; vadose zone (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/24/16414/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/24/16414/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:24:p:16414-:d:996578

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().