Arsenic bioavailability and mobility in contaminated soils and mine tailings

摘要

A seven-step sequential extraction procedure was used to investigate the mobility and retention behaviour of arsenic (As) in specific physical-chemical and mineral phases in mine tailings and soils in the surroundings of the abandoned mine. Arsenic showed low mobility because of adsorption to Fe oxy-hydroxides. Arsenic retained in secondary mineral phases as well as in organic matter and sulfides were temporarily withheld, suggesting that they may be released to the environment by changes in physico-chemical conditions.