Co-remediation of the lead-polluted garden soil by exogenous natural zeolite and humic acids

The current study reported the co-remediation effect on the lead-polluted garden soil by zeolite and humic acids (HA), which was from comparing with the remediation of single zeolite in term of the lead fraction of sequential extraction in the soil and the distribution of lead in different parts of rape. Mixed treatment (zeolite and HA) and single treatment (zeolite) were, respectively, applied to the artificially polluted garden soil to examine the difference of their remediation effects in pot experiment. Results indicated that the co-remediation led to significantly greater (p < 0.01) reduction in the lead concentration in plants than by singly adding to zeolite. The co-application of zeolite and HA reduced the available fraction of lead compounds, but slightly increased (p < 0.01) the water-soluble fraction of lead compounds in the garden soil, compared with the application of single zeolite, especially in the severe lead-polluted soil (≥1000 mg kg−1). This method might be an efficient way to remediate the lead-polluted soils on a large scale, although zeolite is a kind of hazardous material.