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Arsenic, chromium and mercury removal using mussel shell ash or a sludge/ashes waste mixture

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Abstract

Different batches of valued mussel shell and waste mussel shell ash are characterised. Shell ash has pH > 12 and high electrical conductivities (between 16.01 and 27.27 dS m−1), while calcined shell shows pH values up to 10.7 and electrical conductivities between 1.19 and 3.55 dS m−1. X-ray fluorescence, nitric acid digestion and water extractions show higher concentrations in shell ash for most parameters. Calcite is the dominant crystalline compound in this ash (95.6 %), followed by aragonite. Adsorption/desorption trials were performed for mussel shell ash and for a waste mixture including shell ash, sewage sludge and wood ash, showing the following percentage adsorptions: Hg(II) >94 %, As(V) >96 % and Cr(VI) between 11 and 30 % for shell ash; Hg(II) >98 %, As(V) >88 % and Cr(VI) between 30 and 88 % for the waste mixture. Hg and As desorption was <5 % for both shell ash and the waste mixture, while Cr desorption was between 92 and 45 % for shell ash, and between 19 and 0 % for the mixture. In view of that, mussel shell ash and the mixture including shell ash, sewage sludge and wood ash could be useful for Hg(II) and As(V) removal.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Government of Galicia (Spain).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Edafoloxía e Química Agrícola, Escola Politécnica Superior, University of Santiago de Compostela, Campus univ. s/n, 27002, Lugo, Spain

    Natalia Seco-Reigosa, María J. Fernández-Sanjurjo, Esperanza Álvarez-Rodríguez & Avelino Núñez-Delgado

  2. Área de Edafoloxía e Química Agrícola, Departamento de Bioloxía Vexetal e Ciencia do Solo, Facultade de Ciencias, University of Vigo, 32004, Ourense, Spain

    Susana Peña-Rodríguez, Juan Carlos Nóvoa-Muñoz & Manuel Arias-Estévez

Authors
  1. Natalia Seco-Reigosa
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  2. Susana Peña-Rodríguez
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  3. Juan Carlos Nóvoa-Muñoz
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  4. Manuel Arias-Estévez
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  5. María J. Fernández-Sanjurjo
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  6. Esperanza Álvarez-Rodríguez
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  7. Avelino Núñez-Delgado
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Avelino Núñez-Delgado.

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Responsible editor: Vera Slaveykova

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Fig. S1 1

pH value for shell ash and the waste mixture as a function of adsorbed arsenic (a), chromium (b) and mercury (c). Bars indicate standard deviation, with coefficients of variation always ≤ 5% (XLSX 57 kb)

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Seco-Reigosa, N., Peña-Rodríguez, S., Nóvoa-Muñoz, J.C. et al. Arsenic, chromium and mercury removal using mussel shell ash or a sludge/ashes waste mixture. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 2670–2678 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-1192-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-012-1192-6

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