A preliminary investigation into the use of ochre as a remedial amendment in arsenic-contaminated soils

Ochre is an unwanted waste product that accumulates in wetlands and streams draining abandoned coal and metal mines. A potential commercial use for ochre is to remediate As contaminated soil. Arsenic contaminated soil (605 mg kg−1) was mixed with different ochres (A, B and C) in a mass ratio of 1:1 and shaken in 20 mL of deionised water. After 72 h As concentration in solution was ca. 500 μg kg−1 in the control and 1–2.5 μg kg−1 in the ochre treated experiments. In a second experiment soil:ochre mixtures of 0.05–1:1 were shaken in 20 mL of deionised water for 24 h. For Ochres A and C, as solution concentration was reduced to ca. 1 μg kg−1 by 0.2–1:1 ochre:soil mixtures. For Ochre B, as concentration only reached ca. 1 μg kg−1 in the 1:1 ochre:soil mix. Sorption of As was best modelled by a Freundlich isotherm using As sorption per mass of goethite in the ochre (log K = 1.64, n = 0.79, R2 = 0.76, p ⩽ 0.001). Efficiency of ochre in removing As from solution increased with increasing total Fe, goethite, citrate dithionite extractable Fe and surface area.