Solubility and speciation of antimony in variously treated shooting range soils under waterlogged conditions

Karolina Lewińskaa, A. Karczewskab and K. Szopkab

a Institute of Physical Geography and Environmental Planning, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland

b Institute of Soil Science and Environmental Protection, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Poland

karolina.lewinska@amu.edu.pl

Soil contamination with metals and metalloids, in particular Sb, in shooting ranges becomes a matter of increasing environmental concern. Very high total concentrations of Sb in shooting range soils were reported for instance from , , and . In this study we examined a release of Sb into pore water from shooting range soils under oxidized and waterlogged conditions, in a 140-day incubation experiment. Five soil samples were collected from two complexes of shooting ranges in Oleśnica and Wrocław. The concentrations of Sb in soils were in the ranges: 4.15- 89.6 mg kg-1. Soils were treated with green waste compost and deferrisation sludge prior to incubation. Additionally, the effects of treatment with acid and lime were examined. Pore water was collected 5 times with MacroRhizon suction samplers, and Sb concentrations in water were measured. Sb speciation in pore water, that involved Sb III and Sb V, was determined by ICP MS-HPLC. Additionally, five operationally defined fractions of Sb in soil solid phase were determined by sequential extraction before and after incubation. The study confirmed a relatively high concentrations of Sb in pore water of shooting range soils, that in all cases exceeded 10 μg∙L-1 set as a threshold for satisfying quality underground water. The waterlogging considerably reduced final Sb concentrations in pore water, irrespectively of the kind of pretreatment, except for a temporal increase in Sb solubility in two soils. Suchresults illustrate ambiguity of Sb behaviour in soils. Therefore, applicability of any treatments designed for remediation of shooting range soils should be thoroughly examined in relation to the properties of those particular soils. Sb III was negligible in pore water of oxidized soils, while its share in pore water of waterlogged soils was considerable and tended to increase with prolonged incubation. The highest concentrations of Sb III in pore water were found in waterlogged acid-treated soils, and also in limed soils. Finally, this research allowed us to conclude that sequential extraction did not prove to be a suitable tool for examining the changes in Sb and As binding in sandy shooting range soils, mainly because of large heterogeneity of soils and amendments.

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