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Sorption and desorption of mercury(II) in saline and alkaline soils of Bahía Blanca, Argentina

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Abstract

The objective of this work was to study sorption–desorption and/or precipitation–dissolution processes of Hg(II) compounds considering an eventual contact of soils with Hg-bearing wastes. In addition, this study contributes new data about Hg(II) chemistry in alkaline systems. Saline and alkaline soils with low organic matter (<1 %) and high clay content (60–70 %) were obtained near a chlor-alkali plant. Batch techniques were used to perform the experiments using 0.1 M NaNO3 solutions. Total Hg(II) concentrations ranged from 6.2 × 10−8 to 6.3 × 10−3 M. Sorption of Hg(II) was evaluated at two concentration ranges: (a) 6.2 × 10−8 to 1.1 × 10−4 M, and (b) 6.4 × 10−4 to 6.3 × 10−3 M. At low Hg(II) concentrations, adsorption occurred with a maximum sorption capacity ranging from 4 to 5 mmol/kg. At high Hg(II) concentrations, sorption–precipitation reactions occurred and maximum sorption capacity ranged from 17 to 31 mmol/kg. The distribution of Hg(II) hydrolysis products showed that Hg(OH)2 was the predominant species under soil conditions. According to sorption experiments, X-ray diffraction and chemical speciation modelling, the presence of Hg(OH)2 in the interlayer of the interstratified clay minerals can be proposed. Hg(OH)2 was partially desorbed by repeated equilibrations in 0.1 M NaNO3 solution. Desorption ranged from 0.1 to 0.9 mmol/kg for soils treated with 5.8 × 10−5 M Hg(II), whereas 2.1–3.8 mmol/kg was desorbed from soils treated with 6.3 × 10−3 M Hg(II). Formation of soluble Hg(II) complexes was limited by low organic matter content, whereas neutral Hg(OH)2 was retained by adsorption on clay mineral surfaces.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. J.P. Maiza for his helpful comments and Dr. L.I. Vico for technical assistance. Financial support from FONCyT (Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica), Argentina (Project No. PICT-1250), is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Hidrogeología, Departamento de Geología, Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS), San Juan 670, B8000CPB, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    Daniela Lafont & A. Guillermo Bonorino

  2. Laboratorio de Química General e Inorgánica, Departamento de Química, Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS), Av. Alem 1253, B8000CPB, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    Olga E. Soulages & Silvia G. Acebal

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  1. Daniela Lafont
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  2. Olga E. Soulages
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  3. Silvia G. Acebal
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  4. A. Guillermo Bonorino
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Correspondence to Silvia G. Acebal.

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Lafont, D., Soulages, O.E., Acebal, S.G. et al. Sorption and desorption of mercury(II) in saline and alkaline soils of Bahía Blanca, Argentina. Environ Earth Sci 70, 1379–1387 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2221-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-013-2221-6

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