Comparison of methods for leaching heavy metals from composts

This paper presents the determination of total iron, copper, zinc, chromium, nickel, lead, cadmium and mercury contents in the compost obtained from sorted municipal organic solid waste applying the following methods of sample mineralization: 40% hydrofluoric acid with preliminary incineration of a sample, a mixture of concentrated nitric(V) and chloric(VII) acids with preliminary incineration of organic matter and a mixture of nitric(V) and chloric(VII) acids without sample incineration. The speciation analysis of Tessier was used to estimate the bioavailability of the metals. Elution degrees of the mobile forms of the metals from the compost with 10% nitric(V) acid and 1 mol/dm(3) hydrochloric acid were compared. The contents of the elements in the eluates were determined applying atomic absorption spectrometry. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.