Effects of the joint application of phosphate rock, ferric nitrate and plant ash on the immobility of As, Pb and Cd in soils

Abstract

Phosphate rock (PR) and ferric salts have been frequently used to immobilize heavy metal(loid)s in soils, but in varied efficiencies referring to different metal(loid) pollutants. This study explored the effective application of plant ash (PA) to the previous formula of phosphate rock (PR) and ferric salts (Fe(NO3)3) (PR + Fe3++PA), compared to only PR, on the bioavailability and immobility of multi-metal(loid)s of selected arsenic (As), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in soils. Results from NaHCO3- extraction and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) implied the increase of the As mobility in soils by 7.0% and 2.6% using PR only, but the significant reduction of the As mobility by 24.2% and 82.4% jointly using PR + Fe3++PA. Meanwhile, the application of either PR alone or PR + Fe3++PA in soil significantly decreased Pb and Cd extracting in diethylene triamine pentacetate acid (DTPA) and TCLP, particularly, the immobilization effect of PR + Fe3++PA was better than that of PR. The leaching column test further confirmed the high durability of PR + Fe3++PA on the immobilization of As and Pb under the continuous acid exposure, but likely slightly increased the mobility of Cd (the accumulated concentration of Cd, 5.88 μg/L) compared to that (3.16 μg/L) in the untreated column (UN-column), which were both much lower than the level V (100 μg/L) of the Chinese National Quality Standard for Surface Water (GB 3838–2002). Therefore, PR + Fe3++PA exhibited the significant enhancement on the immobilization of As, Pb and Cd under simulated acid rain (SAR) leaching.