Skip to main content

Effects of time, soil organic matter, and iron oxides on the relative retention and redistribution of lead, cadmium, and copper on soils

Environmental Science and Pollution Research volume 22, pages 10331–10339 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

In order to predict the bioavailability of toxic metals in soils undergoing degradation of organic matter (OM) and iron oxides (IOs), it is vital to understand the roles of these soil components in relation to metal retention and redistribution with time. In this present work, batch competitive sorptions of Pb(II), Cu(II), and Cd(II) were investigated between 1 and 90 days. Results showed that competition affected Cd(II) sorption more than Cu(II) and Pb(II). The sorption followed the trend Pb(II) > > Cu(II) > Cd(II), irrespective of aging, and this high preference for Pb(II) ions in soils reduced with time. Removal of OM led to reduction in distribution coefficient (K d) values of ≈33 % for all cations within the first day. However, K d increased nearly 100 % after 7 days and over 1000 % after 90-day period. The enhanced K d values indicated that sorptions occurred on the long run on surfaces which were masked by OM. Removal of IO caused selective increases in the K d values, but this was dependent on the dominant soil constituent(s) in the absence of IO. The K d values of the IO-degraded samples nearly remained constant irrespective of aging indicating that sorptions on soil components other than the IO are nearly instantaneous while iron oxides played greater role than other constituents with time. Hence, in the soils studied, organic matter content determines the immediate relative metal retention while iron oxides determine the redistribution of metals with time.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

References

  • Agbenin JO (2010) Extractability and transformation of Copper and Zinc added to tropical savanna soil under long-term pasture. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 41:1016–1027

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agbenin JO, Olojo LA (2004) Competitive adsorption of copper and zinc by a Bt horizon of a savanna Alfisol as affected by pH and selective removal of hydrous oxides and organic matter. Geoderma 119:85–95

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aller L, Bennet T, Leher JH, Petty RJ, Hackett G (1987) DRASTIC: A Standardized System for Evaluating Groundwater Pollution Potential Using Hydrogeologic Settings. EPA 600/2-87-035 pp 622.

  • Arias M, Barral MT, Mejuto JC (2002) Enhancement of copper and cadmium adsorption on kaolin by the presence of humic acids. Chemosphere 48:1081–1088

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benton JJ Jr (2001) Laboratory Guide for Conducting Soil Tests and Plant Analysis. CRC Press, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Diagboya PN, Olu-Owolabi BI, Adebowale KO (2014a) Microscale scavenging of pentachlorophenol in water using amine and tripolyphosphate-grafted SBA–15 silica: batch and modeling studies. J Environ Manag 146:42–49

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diagboya PN, Olu-Owolabi BI, Zhou D, Han B-H (2014b) Graphene oxide–tripolyphosphate hybrid material: a potent sorbent for cationic dyes. Carbon 79:174–182

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC (1988) Soil Map of the World, revised legend. World Soil Resources Report no 60. FAO, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Freundlich HMF (1906) Über die adsorption in lösungen. Z Phys Chem 57A:385–470

    Google Scholar 

  • Heidmann I, Christl I, Leu C, Kretzschmar R (2005) Competitive sorption of protons and metal cations onto kaolinite: experiments and modeling. J Colloid Interface Sci 282:270–282

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Juang RS, Chung JY (2004) Equilibrium sorption of heavy metals and phosphate from single and binary-sorbate solutions on goethite. J Colloid Interface Sci 275:53–60

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lagergren S (1898) Zur theorie der sogenannten adsorption gelöster stoffe. Kungliga Svenska Vetenskapsakademiens. Handlingar 24:1–39

    Google Scholar 

  • Lai C, Chen C, Wei B et al (2002) Cadmium adsorption on goethite-coated sand in the presence of humic acid. Water Res 36:4943–4950

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langmuir I (1916) The constitution and fundamental properties of solids and liquids. J Am Chem Soc 38:2221–2295

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu A, Zhang S, Shan XQ (2005) Time effect on the fractionation of heavy metals in soils. Geoderma 125:225–234

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu SG, Xu QF (2009) Competitive adsorption of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn by different soils of Eastern China. Environ Geol 57:685–693

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKeague JA (ed) (1978) Manual on Soil Sampling and Methods of Analysis 2nd Edition. Can. Sot. of Soil Sci. Suite 907, 151 Slater St., Ottawa, Ont

  • Mustafa G, Singh B, Kookana RS (2004) Cadmium adsorption and desorption behaviour on goethite at low equilibrium concentrations: effects of pH and index cations. Chemosphere 57:1325–1333

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olu-Owolabi BI, Diagboya PN, Adebowale KO (2014) Evaluation of pyrene sorption–desorption on tropical soils. J Environ Manag 137:1–9

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olu-Owolabi BI, Diagboya PN, Adebowale KO (2015) Sorption and Desorption of Fluorene on Five Tropical Soils from Different Climes. Geoderma 239–240:179–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olu-Owolabi BI, Diagboya PN, Ebaddan WC (2012) Mechanism of Pb2+ removal from aqueous solution using a nonliving moss biomass. Chem Eng J 195–196:270–275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-Novo C, Pateiro-Moure M, Osorio F, Nóvoa-Munoz JC, Lopez-Periago E, Arias-Estévez M (2008) Influence of organic matter removal on competitive and noncompetitive adsorption of copper and zinc in acid soils. J Colloid Interface Sci 322:33–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Serrano S, Garrido F, Campbell CG, Garcia-Gonzalez MT (2005) Competitive sorption of cadmium and lead in acid soils of Central Spain. Geoderma 124:91–104

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaato HR (1996) Physico-chemical and thermodynamic studies of some soils of the lower Benue valley of Nigeria. Ph.D Thesis, University of Ibadan, Ibadan (Unpublished)

  • Sparks DL (2003) Environmental Soil Chemistry, 2nd edn. Academic Press, San Deigo, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Spathariotis E, Kallianou C (2001) Adsorption of copper, zinc, and cadmium on clay fraction of two acid soils: surface complexation modelling. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 32:3185–3205

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber WJ Jr, McGinley PM, Katz LE (1992) A distributed reactivity model for sorption by soils and sediments: 1. Conceptual basis and equilibrium assessments. Environ Sci Technol 26:1955–1962

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the supports of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), Trieste, Italy, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China, for the award of CAS-TWAS Postgraduate Fellowship (FR number: 3240255024) to P.N. Diagboya; Chief S.L. Edu/Chevron Research grant (Nigeria Conservation Foundation) Nigeria; late Rebecca A. Okoh, and V.P.O. Okoh, Department of Estate Management, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Nigeria.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Paul N. Diagboya, Bamidele I. Olu-Owolabi & Kayode O. Adebowale

  2. National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, 100190, China

    Paul N. Diagboya

Authors
  1. Paul N. Diagboya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Bamidele I. Olu-Owolabi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kayode O. Adebowale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul N. Diagboya.

Additional information

Responsible editor: Zhihong Xu

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Diagboya, P.N., Olu-Owolabi, B.I. & Adebowale, K.O. Effects of time, soil organic matter, and iron oxides on the relative retention and redistribution of lead, cadmium, and copper on soils. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 10331–10339 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4241-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4241-0

Keywords

  • Soil organic matter
  • Iron oxides
  • Relative metal retention
  • Bioavailability