HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Antoniadis, V. Articles by Zuhairi, W. Y. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Antoniadis, V. Articles by Zuhairi, W. Y. W. Agricola Articles by Antoniadis, V. Articles by Zuhairi, W. Y. W. Related Collections Laboratory Column Studies Heavy Metals

TECHNICAL REPORTS

Heavy Metals in the Environment

Single-Element and Competitive Metal Mobility Measured with Column Infiltration and Batch Tests

^a Dep. of Agricultural Development, Democritus Univ. of Thrace, Pantazidou 193, GR-682 00, Orestiada, Greece
^b School of Planning, Architecture, and Civil Engineering, Queen's Univ. Belfast, David Kier Building, Stranmillis Rd., Belfast, BT9 5AG, UK
^c School of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources, Faculty of Science and Technology, Univ. Kebangsoon Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Slangor, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author (vasilisrev{at}yahoo.com)

Received for publication April 5, 2006. The distribution coefficient, K_d, is often used to quantify heavy metal mobility in soils. Batch sorption or column infiltration tests may be used to measure K_d. The latter are closer to natural soil conditions, but are difficult to conduct in clays. This difficulty can be overcome by using a laboratory centrifuge. An acceleration of 2600 gravities was applied to columns of London Clay, an Eocene clay sub-stratum, and Cu, Ni, and Zn mobility was measured in centrifuge infiltration tests, both as single elements and in dual competition. Single-element K_d values were also obtained from batch sorption tests, and the results from the two techniques were compared. It was found that K_d values obtained by batch tests vary considerably depending on the metal concentration, while infiltration tests provided a single K_d value for each metal. This was typically in the lower end of the range of the batch test K_d values. For both tests, the order of mobility was Ni > Zn > Cu. Metals became more mobile in competition than when in single-element systems: Ni K_d decreased 3.3 times and Zn K_d 3.4 times when they competed with Cu, while Cu decreased only 1.2 times when in competition with either Ni or Zn. Our study showed that competitive sorption between metals increases the mobility of those metals less strongly bound more than it increases the mobility of more strongly bound metals.

Abbreviations: BAT, batch adsorption test • BTC, breakthrough curve • CIT, centrifuge infiltration test