Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Volume 158, Issue 8, Pages 2702-2709Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2010.04.016
Keywords
Mercury; Soil pollution; Chlor-alkali; Synchrotron; X-rays microanalyses; K106
Categories
Funding
- MIUR
- European Community-Research Infrastructure
- Belgian government
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Direct mercury (Hg) speciation was assessed for soil samples with a Hg concentration ranging from 7 up to 240 mg kg(-1). Hg chemical forms were identified and quantified by sequential extractions and bulk- and micro-analytical techniques exploiting synchrotron generated X-rays. In particular, microspectroscopic techniques such as mu-XRF,mu-XRD and mu-XANES were necessary to solve bulk Hg speciation, in both soil fractions <2 mm and <2 mu m. The main Hg-species found in the soil samples were metacinnabar (beta-HgS), cinnabar (alpha-HgS), corderoite (Hg3S2Cl2), and an amorphous phase containing Hg bound to chlorine and sulfur. The amount of metacinnabar and amorphous phases increased in the fraction <2 pm. No interaction among Hg-species and soil components was observed. All the observed Hg-species originated from the slow weathering of an inert Hg-containing waste material (K106, U.S. EPA) dumped in the area several years ago, which is changing into a relatively more dangerous source of pollution. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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