Short-term transformations of lead and cadmium compounds in soil after contamination

The behaviour and fate of trace metals, in particular lead and cadmium, when they contaminate the soil as atmospheric fall-out are not well understood. To improve our understanding, we incorporated pure compounds of lead and cadmium into samples taken from surface horizons of three chemically contrasting soils and monitored the changes in their speciation by analysing the soil solution. In most instances the concentrations of trace metals in solution were maximal during the first few days after mixing the contaminants with the soil, and depended strongly on soil type. The exception was when the contaminant was added as sulphide particles. The initial speciation of metals also influenced their solubility, following a decreasing order which did not depend on the soil type: for lead: oxide=carbonate>sulphate>sulphide; and for cadmium: sulphate>oxidegreater than or equal tocarbonate>sulphide. Lead sulphide was progressively oxidized, but cadmium sulphide was hardly dissolved. When lead was added as sulphate, between 10 and 20% of lead particles dissolved, regardless of the soil type. For the other species, dissolution was enhanced at lower soil pH. Thermodynamic calculations with the WinHumic V program indicated that the solution was not saturated with respect to lead sulphate. We conclude that dissolution must be limited by the adsorption of inhibitors on reactive surfaces. The calculations also showed that precipitation of chloropyromorphite probably controls lead concentration in leachate from the acid organic soil. Finally, both soil type and initial speciation of contaminants control the behaviour of trace metals in soils for a time greater than a cropping season and must be considered for understanding their environmental impact.