Role of inorganic and organic soil amendments on immobilisation and phytoavailability of heavy metals: a review involving specific case studies

Soil is not only considered as a 'source' of nutrients for plant growth, but also as a 'sink' for the removal of contaminants from industrial and agricultural waste materials. The origin of heavy metal contamination of soils may be anthropogenic as well as geogenic. With greater public awareness of the implications of contaminated soils on human and animal health, there has been increasing interest amongst the scientific community in developing cost-effective and community-acceptable remediation technologies for contaminated sites. Unlike organic contaminants, most metals do not undergo microbial or chemical degradation, thereby resulting in their accumulation in soils. The mobilisation of metals in soils for plant uptake and leaching to groundwater can, however, be minimised through chemical and biological immobilisation. Recently there has been increasing interest in the immobilisation of metals using a range of inorganic compounds, such as lime and phosphate (P) compounds, and organic compounds, such as 'exceptional quality' biosolids. In this review paper, the results from selected New Zealand studies on the potential value of a range of soil amendments (phosphate compounds, liming materials, and biosolids) in the immobilisation of cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), and copper (Cu) is discussed in relation to remediation of contaminated soils. These case studies have indicated that lime is effective in reducing the phytoavailability of Cd and Cr(III), phosphate compounds are effective for Cd, and organic amendments are effective for Cu and Cr(VI). The mechanisms proposed for the immobilisation and consequent reduction in the phytoavailability of metals by the soil amendments include: enhanced metal adsorption through increased surface charge (e.g. phosphate-induced metal adsorption), increased formation of organic and inorganic metal complexes (e.g. cadmium-phosphate complex and copper-organic matter complex), precipitation of metals (e.g. chromic hydroxide), and reduction of metals from higher valency mobile form to lower valency immobile form [e.g. Cr(VI) to Cr(III)]. These case studies indicated that since bioavailability is the key factor for remediation technologies, chemical or biological immobilisation of metals may be a preferred option.