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Cadmium chemical fractions in sediments: effect of grain size, pH, organic acids, and inorganic ions

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Abstract

In sediments, cadmium (Cd) contamination is an increasingly severe global problem facing environmental protection and human health. The mobility and biological toxicity of Cd are related to its chemical fractions. In this work, the European Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) sequential extraction procedure and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) technology were integrated to identify the effect of grain size, pH, organic acids, inorganic anions, and cations on the chemical fractions of Cd in sediments. The result indicated that the sediments with the fine grain (< 63 μm) presented a good ability to combine Cd, while the coarse grains (> 250 μm) exhibited a more exchangeable/acid-soluble fraction (78.14 wt%). Besides, the amount of Cd released from the sediment decreased dramatically with pH from 2 to 6 and leveled off in the pH range of 8–10. The more mobile fractions (exchangeable/acid-soluble fraction (F1) and reducible fraction (F2)) were significantly affected by pH, implying that pH was an important factor influencing the release of Cd into the upper water environment. For organic acids, which mainly affect the release of Cd in the exchangeable and carbonate-bound fraction, the influence of organic acid on the mobility of Cd in sediments followed the order: ethylenediaminetetraacetate acid (EDTA) > citric acid (CA) > tartaric acid (TA) > oxalic acid (OA). The impact of SO42−, Cl−, CO32−, NO3−, Ca(II) and Mg(II) was not evident in the release of Cd from the sediment, while Al(III) and Fe(III) had a greater effect on the chemical fraction of Cd. The study outcomes provide fundamental knowledge for understanding the potential mobility of Cd in sediment.

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Funding

This project was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2017YFD0800301), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41703129), Liaoning Province Education Administration (Nos. LJ2020008, LQ2020023, and LQ2020027).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental and Safety Engineering, Shenyang University of Chemical Technology, Shenyang, 110142, Liaoning, China

    Haibo Wang

  2. Liaoning Engineering Research Center for Treatment and Recycling of Industrially Discharged Heavy Metals, Shenyang University of Chemical Technology, Shenyang, 110142, China

    Haibo Wang, Qi Zhang, Mario Alberto Gomez, Yongfeng Jia, Shuhua Yao & Shifeng Li

  3. Key Laboratory of Pollution Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China

    Yongfeng Jia

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  1. Haibo Wang
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  2. Qi Zhang
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Contributions

ZQ (student) has analyzed and interpreted the results. WHB performed the scientific work and was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. MAG helped in English writing. LSF contributed to writing the manuscript. YSH read the final manuscript. JYF read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shuhua Yao or Shifeng Li.

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Wang, H., Zhang, Q., Gomez, M.A. et al. Cadmium chemical fractions in sediments: effect of grain size, pH, organic acids, and inorganic ions. Environ Earth Sci 81, 478 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10614-3

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