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Characterization of arsenic serious-contaminated soils from Shimen realgar mine area, the Asian largest realgar deposit in China

  • Soils, Sec 3 • Remediation and Management of Contaminated or Degraded Lands • Research Article
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Abstract

Purpose

Serious arsenic (As)-contaminated soils have the potential to cause contamination of ground water and surface water, being toxic to plant, animals, and human. The aim of study was to characterize As contamination in the soils from Shimen realgar mine area, the largest realgar deposit in Asia.

Materials and methods

Total As concentrations, As chemical fractionation, and As potential solubility both at various land use types (smelting and processing plants (SPP), mining site (MS), and agriculture land (AL)) and soil depths (0–100 cm) were investigated. As speciation in soil was examined using X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) analysis, and risk assessment was also carried out to evaluate potential ecological risk of As contamination.

Results and discussion

As concentrations in the studied area were extremely high, and the total As concentration reached up to 5240.8 mg kg−1. Moreover, total As and NaHCO3-extractable As concentrations in all soil layers for various land use were far beyond the range of the non-contaminated soil. The potential ecological risk level of As posed higher to serious risk to the environment based on ecological risk index values. Sequential extraction confirmed that As is mostly bonded with amorphous and poorly crystalline hydrous iron and aluminum oxides (65 ∼ 70 %), and only a small proportion (about 11 %) is partitioned in residual fraction, suggesting high risk of As mobilization. According to XAFS analysis, As was predominantly present in the form of arsenate, and arsenite was also found in the samples from SPP, MS, and AL.

Conclusions

The results indicate that the extra high concentrations of As were caused by both natural geochemical enrichment and long-lasting ore mining, smelting, and processing, and land use can greatly influence As contents in surface soil. These findings can be important for risk assessment and for the development and implementation of suitable management and remediation strategies.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Science and Technology Support Program (Grant 2012BAC12B02) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant 51074191).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Metallurgy and Environment, Central South University, Lushan South Road 932, Changsha, Hunan, 410017, China

    Jingwen Tang, Zhihui Yang, Liyuan Chai & Weichun Yang

  2. Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Control & Treatment of Heavy Metal Pollution, Changsha, Hunan, 410017, China

    Jingwen Tang, Zhihui Yang, Liyuan Chai & Weichun Yang

  3. Administration of Quality and Technology Supervision of Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, 410017, China

    Yingping Liao

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  1. Jingwen Tang
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  2. Yingping Liao
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  3. Zhihui Yang
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  4. Liyuan Chai
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  5. Weichun Yang
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Correspondence to Weichun Yang.

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Responsible editor: Ravi Naidu

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Tang, J., Liao, Y., Yang, Z. et al. Characterization of arsenic serious-contaminated soils from Shimen realgar mine area, the Asian largest realgar deposit in China. J Soils Sediments 16, 1519–1528 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-015-1345-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-015-1345-6

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