Fraction and mobility of antimony and arsenic in three polluted soils: A comparison of single extraction and sequential extraction

Co-contamination of arsenic (As) usually occurs with antimony (Sb) in Sb mine ores. However, the mobility and bio-availability of Sb and As in different types of mine impacted soils have received relatively little attention. This study aimed to investigate the fraction, mobility and removal of Sb and As in three types of polluted soils using environmentally friendly and cost-effective extractants. In the present study, lightly polluted (L), moderately polluted (M), and 3) highly polluted (H) soils were collected from the Xikuangshan (XKS) mine area in Hunan, China. Toxicity risk assessment, fraction and extraction of Sb and As were performed to evaluate Sb and As mobility and availability. According to the speciation fractions, the percent of residual Sb was larger than As in all studied soils, which suggested that As is far more mobile than Sb. Sb and As extractabilities from selected polluted soils were compared and ranked as: citric acid > tartaric acid > EDTA > HCl > Na2HPO4 > CaCl2. Citric acid showed the highest extractabilities for both Sb and As (up to 24% for total Sb and 41% for total As respectively). Moreover, obvious alteration of Sb and As fractionations in three types of soils were observed after chemical extractions. The mobility of Sb and As increased after extraction by citric acid and tartaric acid, suggesting that these organic acids can make soil trace metals more bio-available and that, Sb/As polluted soils can be remediated via phytoextraction.