Simultaneous stabilization of particulate and bioavailable arsenic in soils from the realgar mining area by polyacrylamide, nano-SiO2, and ferrihydrite composite materials

Xiayu Zhu; Zelong Yan; Shichao Liu; Mengchao Zhou; Xiangfeng Zeng; Shaofeng Wang; Yongfeng Jia

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172123

Simultaneous stabilization of particulate and bioavailable arsenic in soils from the realgar mining area by polyacrylamide, nano-SiO₂, and ferrihydrite composite materials

Sci Total Environ. 2024 May 20:926:172123. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172123. Epub 2024 Apr 3.

Authors

Xiayu Zhu¹, Zelong Yan¹, Shichao Liu¹, Mengchao Zhou¹, Xiangfeng Zeng², Shaofeng Wang³, Yongfeng Jia²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Ministry of Education, China), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.
² Key Laboratory of Pollution Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering (Ministry of Education, China), School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China. Electronic address: swang@dlut.edu.cn.

PMID: 38575008
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172123

Abstract

Arsenic (As) contamination in realgar mining areas poses a severe environmental and health risk, highlighting the critical need for effective strategies to manage As migration, particularly in its particulate and bioavailable states. Soil erosion and water leaching serve as significant pathways for spreading As, emphasizing the imperative to curtail its mobility. In the present study, we proposed an effective strategy that combines the utilization of polyacrylamide (PAM), nano-SiO₂ (NS), and ferrihydrite (Fh) to elevate the stability of As in soils from a realgar mining area. The results show that this composite material demonstrates the capability to concurrently regulate soil erosion and mitigate the leaching of bioavailable As. The combination of the three materials in the proportion of 0.5 % PAM +0.1 % NS + 1.0 % Fh can reduce the soil particulate and bioavailable As content by 99.11 % and 93.98 %, respectively. The unconfined compressive strength of the soil can be increased by about 30 % under this condition. The SEM analyses show that the addition of PAM and NS can significantly enhance the aggregation of soil particles and then reduce the soil erosion rate. These findings highlight the significant potential of the proposed approach in mitigating As contamination in soil within mining environments. The approach offers a sustainable and comprehensive solution to address the transport of heavy metal contaminants in both particulate and bioavailable states in mining areas.

Keywords: Arsenic; Ferrihydrite; Nano-SiO(2); Polyacrylamide; Soil erosion; Stabilization.