Effect of Soil Washing Using Oxalic Acid on Arsenic Speciation and Bioaccessibility in Soils

Abstract

Objectives Soil washing process has been widely applied for remediation of contaminated soil with arsenic and heavy metals in Korea. The application of soil washing could change physical and chemical properties of soils and metal speciation in soil, which could affect the risk to the environment and human health. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate metal and arsenic speciation and their mobility in soil after soil remediation in order to evaluate effectiveness of soil remediation process and manage soil quality effectively. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the risk of arsenic in soil after remediation of arsenic contaminated soil via soil washing. Methods Arsenic contaminated soil collected at the abandoned mine site was washing with oxalic acid. The arsenic contaminated soil was divided into 2,000-500 µm, 500-250 µm, 250-150 µm, 150-75 µm, 75-38 µm, 250 µm), which might be due to the presence of mineral phases containing arsenic such as arsenolite or pyrite in the large particle size fraction soils. Sequential extraction showed that arsenic in mine soils was majorly present as associated with amorphous oxides. After soil washing with oxalic acid, arsenic in soils associated with amorphous oxides was greatly decreased, whereas the arsenic fraction associated sulfide and organic matter was increased. Soil washing decreased the bioaccessible arsenic concentration (mg/kg) in soil, but increased the bioaccessibility (%) depending on the soil characteristics. Conclusions Soil washing changed arsenic species in soils, which affected mobility and risk of arsenic in soil.

Keywords

• soil
• arsenic
• speciation
• bioaccessibility
• risk