The behavior of heavy metals in tidal flat sediments during fresh water leaching

Many of the coastal tidal flats in China that were polluted with heavy metals are now being reclaimed for arable land. The safety of these soils for agriculture is of great concern. The present study investigated the sediment chemical properties, concentrations, and speciation of heavy metals at different levels of desalination during a controlled leaching experiment. After leaching with fresh water, the average reductions in the heavy metal species examined in 0–65 cm depth sediment were 32.1% for Pb, 26.2% for Cd, 14.0% for Zn, 13.8% for Cu, and 11.0% for Cr, while the Ni concentration in sediment did not change significantly. The amounts of Cd, Pb, Cr, Cu, and Zn bound to the reducible fraction, the amounts of Cd, Pb, and Zn bound to the exchangeable fraction, the amounts of Pb, Cr, Cu, and Zn associated with the carbonate fraction, and the Cu associated with the oxidizable fraction all decreased significantly. Complexation with salt anions, ion exchange between the cations and the metal ions, removal of SO42-, dissolution of carbonate, and the redox potential variations all contributed to the decreases in Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, and Cr. These results suggest that leaching with fresh water can also remove a fraction of the heavy metal contamination when it diminishes sediment salinity.