Colloid-facilitated Pb transport in two shooting-range soils in Florida

Shooting range soils with elevated Pb contents are of environmental concern due to their adverse impacts on human and animals. In Florida, the problem merits special attention because of Florida's sandy soil, high rainfall, and shallow groundwater level, which tend to favor Pb migration. This study used large intact soil column to examine colloid-facilitated Pb transport in two Florida shooting-range soils with different physicochemical properties (e.g., organic carbon content, pH, and clay content). Simulated rainwater (SRW) was pumped through the intact soil columns under different ionic strengths (0.07 and 5 mmol L−1) and flow rates (2.67, 5.30 and 10.6 cm h−1) to mobilize Pb and soil colloids. Our results showed that colloids dominated Pb transport in both soils and there was a significant correlation between colloids and Pb in the leachates. Decreases in ionic strength and increases in flow rate enhanced the release of both colloids and Pb in the soils. Size fraction analyses showed that in OCR soils (sandy soils with low organic carbon), most of the Pb (87%) was associated with coarse colloid fraction (0.45-8 μm). However, high Pb level (66%) was found in the dissolved and nano-sized colloid fraction (<0.1 μm) in the MPR soils (sandy soils with high organic carbon). This suggests that soil properties are important to Pb migration in soils and groundwater. Our study indicated that colloids play an important role in facilitating Pb transport in shooting range soils.