Preliminary evaluation of animal bone char as potential metal stabilization agent in metal contaminated soil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential effect of animal bone char (ABC) addition on metal mobility in mine tailings. The mobility of metals after addition of ABC to tailings at four different application rates (0.6 g, 1.2 g, 1.8 g and 3.6 g ABC per 100 g of tailings) was evaluated by Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) one step extraction. The obtained results indicated that the mobility of Pb, Cr and Cd gradually decreased with increasing quantity of added ABC. According to the TCLP, mobile concentrations of Pb in tailings exceeded threshold values for almost eight times. After ABC addition, Pb TCLP-extractable concentrations decreased from 39 mg L−1 in tailings to lower than the TCLP limit values of 5 mg L−1 at all ABC application rates, except in mixtures with the lowest addition of ABC. We concluded that ABC could be a successful metal stabilization agent for multi-metal contaminated soil, although attention should be paid at highly As contaminated soil.

Keywords

• Animal bone char
• metal stabilization
• phosphate
• tailings