Effects of salinity on the transformation of heavy metals in tropical estuary wetland soil

Tropical estuary wetlands are important for aquaculture and wildlife. However, many of them receive large amounts of anthropogenic heavy metals annually. Here, the transformation of spiked heavy metals, namely, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn, and the effects of salinity on their transformation in wetland soils after an eight-month-long incubation under moisture-saturation conditions were studied in the Pearl River estuary in China. Cd exhibited high mobility and bioavailability, with 12.2% to 25% Cd existing in the exchangeable fraction. Other heavy metals primarily existed in the reducible and oxidisable forms, and less than 2% were bound to the exchangeable fraction. Compared with the controls, contents of none of the metals associated with residual forms were significantly altered. These results imply that most exchangeable metals, except for Cd, transformed into other stable fractions through an eight-month-long ageing process, but not into the residual fraction. Thus, transformation from non-residual to residual forms was very slow in the tropical estuary wetland environment. Addition of NaCl increased the exchangeable fractions of Cd, Pb, and Zn, suggesting that increased soil salinity induced by flood tides during the dry season may enhance their mobility.