Leaching of Arsenic in Soils Amended with Crushed Arsenopyrite Rock

Abstract

Arsenic and its compounds which is one of the most toxic elements that can be found naturally on earth in small concentrations are used in the production of pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides. Most arsenic that cannot be mobilized easily when it is immobile is also found in conjunction with sulfur in minerals such as arsenopyrite (AsFeS), realgar, orpiment and enargite. In this investigation we observed the leaching of arsenic in soils amended with several levels of gravel size of arsenopyrite collected from a road construction site. Soil and gravel size of arsenopyrite were characterized by chemical and mineralogical analyses. Results of XRF analysis of arsenopyrite indicated that the proportion of arsenate was 0.075% (wt <TEX>$wt^{-1}$</TEX>) while the maximum amount of arsenic in soil samples was 251.3 mg <TEX>$kg^{-1}$</TEX>. Cumulative amounts of effluent collected from the bottom of the soil column for different mixing rate of the gravel were gradually increased where proportion of the gravel mixed was greater than 70% whereas the effluent was stabilized to the maximum after approximately 45 pore volumes of effluent or greater were collected. The arsenic in the effluent was recovered from the soil columns in which the proportion of arsenopyrite gravel was 60% or greater. The total amount of arsenic recovered as effluent was increased with increasing proportion of gravel in a soil, indicating that the arsenic in the effluent was closely related with gravel fraction of arsenopyrite.