Contrasting mobility of arsenic and copper in a mining soil: A comparative column leaching and pot testing approach

The remediation of legacy metal(loid) contaminated soils in-situ relies on the addition of [organic] amendments to reduce the mobility and bioavailability of metal(loid)s, improve soil geochemical parameters and restore vegetation growth. Two vermicomposts of food and animal manure waste origin (V-1 and V-2) were amended to an arsenic (As) and copper (Cu) contaminated mine soil (<= 1500 mg kg(-1)). Leaching columns and pot experiments evaluated copper and arsenic in soil pore waters, as well as pH, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and phosphate (PO43-) concentrations. The uptake of As and Cu to ryegrass was also measured via the pot experiment, whilst recovered biochars from the column leaching test were measured for metal sorption at the termination of leaching. Vermicompost amendment to soil facilitated ryegrass growth which was entirely absent from the untreated soil in the pot test. All amendment combinations raised pore water pH by similar to 4 units. Copper concentrations in pore waters from columns and pots showed steep reductions (similar to 1 mg L-1), as a result of V-1 & V-2 compared to untreated soil (similar to 500 mg L-1). Combined with an increase in DOC and PO43-, As was mobilised an order of magnitude by V-1. Biochar furthest reduced Cu in pore waters from the columns to <0.1 mg L-1, as a result of surface sorption. The results of this study indicate that biochar can restrict the mobility of Cu from a contaminated mine soil after other amendment interventions have been used to promote revegetation. However, the case of As, biochar cannot counter the profound impact of vermicompost on arsenic mobility.

Automated summary

The addition of vermicomposts can improve the growth of ryegrass and reduce the concentrations of copper and arsenic in contaminated mine soil. However, biochar is more effective in reducing copper mobility compared to vermicompost, while the impact of vermicompost on arsenic mobility is more significant.