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Sorption and bioavailability of arsenic in selected Bangladesh soils

Environmental Geochemistry and Health volume 31, pages 61–68 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

The bioavailability of arsenic (As) in the soil environment is largely governed by its adsorption–desorption reactions with soil constituents. We have investigated the sorption–desorption behaviour of As in four typical Bangladeshi soils subjected to irrigation with As-contaminated groundwater. The total As content of soils (160 samples) from the Laksham district ranged from <0.03 to approximately 43 mg kg−1. Despite the low total soil As content, the concentration of As in the pore water of soils freshly irrigated with As-contaminated groundwater ranged from 0.01 to 0.1 mg l−1. However, when these soils were allowed to dry, the concentration of As released in the pore water decreased to undetectable levels. Remoistening of soils to field moisture over a 10-day period resulted in a significant (up to 0.06 mg l−1) release of As in the pore water of soils containing >10 mg As kg−1 soil, indicating the potential availability of As. In soils containing <5 mg As kg−1, As was not detected in the pore water. A comparison of Bangladeshi soils with strongly weathered long-term As-contaminated soils from Queensland, Australia showed a much greater release of As in water extracts from the Australian soils. However, this was attributed to the much higher loading of As in these Australian soils. The correlation of pore water As with other inorganic ions (P, S) showed a strongly significant (P < 0.001) relationship with P, although there was no significant relationship between As and other inorganic cations, such as Fe and Mn. Batch sorption studies showed an appreciable capacity for both AsV and AsIII sorption, with AsV being retained in much greater concentrations than AsIII.

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Affiliations

  1. Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of Environments (CRC CARE), PO Box 486, Salisbury South, SA, 5106, Australia

    Ravi Naidu, Euan Smith & Gary Owens

  2. Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation (CERAR), University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Boulevard, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia

    Ravi Naidu, Euan Smith & Gary Owens

  3. Department of Soil Science, Dhaka University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    S. M. Imamul Huq

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  1. Ravi Naidu
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  2. Euan Smith
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  3. S. M. Imamul Huq
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  4. Gary Owens
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Correspondence to Ravi Naidu.

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Naidu, R., Smith, E., Imamul Huq, S.M. et al. Sorption and bioavailability of arsenic in selected Bangladesh soils. Environ Geochem Health 31, 61–68 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-008-9229-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-008-9229-y

Keywords

  • Bioaccumulation
  • Bioavailability
  • Pore water
  • Sorption