Mobilization of arsenic from subsurface sediments by effect of bicarbonate ions in groundwater

Arsenic leaching by bicarbonate ions has been investigated in this study. Subsurface sediment samples from Bangladesh were treated with different carbonate and bicarbonate ions and the results demonstrate that the arsenic leaching efficiency of the carbonate solutions decreased in the order of Na2CO3 > NaHCO3 > BaCO3 > MnCO3 > Sodium carbonate and bicarbonate ions extracted arsenic most efficiently; Na2CO3 leached maximum 118.12 mug/l of arsenic, and NaHCO3, 94.56 mug/l of arsenic from the Ganges delta sediments after six days of incubation. The arsenic concentrations extracted in the batch experiments correlated very well with the bicarbonate concentrations. The kinetics study of arsenic release indicates that arsenic-leaching rate increased with reaction time in bicarbonate solutions. Bicarbonate ions can extract arsenic from sediment samples in both oxic and anoxic conditions. A linear relationship found between arsenic contents in core samples and those in leachates suggests that dissolved arsenic concentration in groundwater is related to the amount of arsenic in aquifer sediments. In batch experiment, bicarbonate solutions effectively extracted arsenic from arsenic adsorbed iron oxyhydroxide, reflecting that bicarbonate solutions may mobilize arsenic from iron and manganese oxyhydroxide in sediments that are ubiquitous in subsurface core samples. Carbonate ion may form complexes on the surface sites of iron hydroxide and substitute arsenic from the surface of minerals and sediments resulting in release of arsenic to groundwater. Like in the batch experiment, arsenic and bicarbonate concentrations in groundwater of Bangladesh correlated very well. Therefore, bicarbonate leaching is presumed to be one important mechanism to mobilize arsenic in bicarbonate dominated reducing aquifer of Bangladesh and other parts of the world as well. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.