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Reclamation of heavy metals from contaminated soil using organic acid liquid generated from food waste: removal of Cd, Cu, and Zn, and soil fertility improvement

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Abstract

Food waste fermentation generates complicated organic and acidic liquids with low pH. In this work, it was found that an organic acid liquid with pH 3.28 and volatile low-molecular-weight organic acid (VLMWOA) content of 5.2 g/L could be produced from food wastes after 9-day fermentation. When the liquid-to-solid ratio was 50:1, temperature was 40 °C, and contact time was 0.5–1 day, 92.9, 78.8, and 52.2% of the Cd, Cu, and Zn in the contaminated soil could be washed out using the fermented food waste liquid, respectively. The water-soluble, acid-soluble, and partly reducible heavy metal fractions can be removed after 0.5-day contact time, which was more effective than that using commercially available VLMWOAs (29–72% removal), as the former contained microorganisms and adequate amounts of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorous, and exchangeable Na, K, and Ca) which favored the washing process of heavy metals. It is thus suggested that the organic acid fractions from food waste has a considerable potential for reclaiming contaminated soil while improving soil fertility.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Tongji University (Grant no. PCRRK14001) and the National Key Technologies R&D Program of China (grant no. 2014BAL02B05).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Shijin Dai, Yang Li, Tao Zhou & Youcai Zhao

Authors
  1. Shijin Dai
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  2. Yang Li
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  3. Tao Zhou
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  4. Youcai Zhao
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Correspondence to Youcai Zhao.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

Highlights

1. Fermented liquid with pH = 3.28 was produced after the fermentation of food wastes for 9 days.

2. The Cd, Cu, and Zn washing rate from the contaminated soil reached the maximum value of 90%.

3. FLFW is more effective at heavy metal washing under acidic conditions than commercially available VLMWOAs.

4. Soil fertility was enhanced after soil was washed by the organic acid liquid.

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Dai, S., Li, Y., Zhou, T. et al. Reclamation of heavy metals from contaminated soil using organic acid liquid generated from food waste: removal of Cd, Cu, and Zn, and soil fertility improvement. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 15260–15269 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9139-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9139-6

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