Sustainable removal of soil arsenic by naturally-formed iron oxides on plastic tubes

YUAN, Zhao-Feng, PU, Tong-Yao, JIN, Chen-Yu, FENG, Wei-Jia, WANG, Jia-Yue, GUSTAVE, Williamson, BRIDGE, Jonathan, CHENG, Yi-Li, TANG, Xian-Jin, ZHU, Yong-Guan and CHEN, Zheng (2022). Sustainable removal of soil arsenic by naturally-formed iron oxides on plastic tubes. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 439: 129626.

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Abstract

Arsenic (As) pollution in paddy fields is a major threat to rice safety. Existing As remediation techniques are costly, require external chemical addition and degrade soil properties. Here, we report the use of plastic tubes as a recyclable tool to precisely extract As from contaminated soils. Following insertion into flooded paddy soils, polyethylene tube walls were covered by thin but massive Fe coatings of 76.9-367 mg Fe m-2 in 2 weeks, which adsorbed significant amounts of As. The formation of tube-wall Fe oxides was driven by local Fe-oxidizing bacteria with oxygen produced by oxygenic phototrophs (e.g., Cyanobacteria) or diffused from air through the tube wall. The tubes with As-bound Fe oxides can be easily separated from soil and then washed and reused. We tested the As removal efficiency in a pot experiment to remove As from ~ 20 cm depth/40 kg soils in a 2-year experiment and achieved an overall removal efficiency of 152 mg As m-2 soil year-1, comparable to phytoremediation with the As hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata. The cost of Fe hooks was estimated at 8325 RMB ha-1 year-1, and the profit of growing rice (around 16080 RMB ha-1 year-1 can be still maintained. The As accumulated in rice tissues was markedly decreased in the treatment (>11.1%). This work provides a low-cost and sustainable soil remediation method for the targeted removal of As from soils and a useful tool for the study and management of the biogeochemical Fe cycle in paddy soils.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	03 Chemical Sciences; 05 Environmental Sciences; 09 Engineering; Strategic, Defence & Security Studies
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129626
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Elements
Depositing User:	Symplectic Elements
Date Deposited:	25 Jul 2022 10:12
Last Modified:	29 Jul 2023 01:18
URI:	https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/30488

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