Best practices for the

remediation of soils impacted by

cadmium and other heavy
metals
Abimbola Abiola
IICA Delegation in Haiti
 Outlines
• Heavy metals of concern

• Proccesses
– Prevention

– Availability

– Removal

– Biological
 Heavy Metals of Concern

• As • Hg
• Be • Ni
• Cd • Pb
• Cr • Se
• Cu • Zn
 Control - Avoid Soil Degradation
• Accumulations are more common in degraded soils

Symptoms of soil degradation

– pH changes
– Low organic matter
– Low WHC
– Salinity
– Poor drainage
– High bulk density
– Erosion
 Control Methods
• Stop additional introduction into the environment
– Avoid the use of phosphate based fertilizers
• High Cd content
– Affected by the source of the phosphate rock
– Sedimentary deposits are generally higher 21 ppm (1-150)
– Igneous deposits 2 ppm (1-4)
• Additions build up Cd and other heavy metals in the soil
– Avoid using contaminated water
• Water analysis is critical when water is used for irrigation
– Avoiding post-harvest contamination
 Test Soil
• Deficiency of some macro or micro nutrients may
lead to the accumulation of some heavy metals
• For example
– Low Zn may lead to accumulation of Cd
 Availability
• Affected by the physical and chemical conditions
– Total
– Available
– Major factors
• pH – acidic conditions leads to ionization of many heavy
metals including Cd
• Cation Exchange Capacity
– High CEC attracts and binds cations
 Organic Matter
• Increases Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC)
• Supplies nutrients to microorganisms and plants
– Health of plants depend on populations of
microorganisms in its rhizosphere (root zone)
• Increases water holding capacity
• Increases infiltration of water in the soil
• Improves soil’s ability to resist compaction
• Reduces erosion
Impacts of Compost on Mine Tailings

Amended
Nickel Mine
Nickel Mine
Tailings
Tailings
 Caution – With Organic Matter
• It is stabilized e.g. compost
• Use properly cured and matured compost
• Proper C:N ratio < 25:1
– Higher C:N ration may affect N availability
• Low in Cd and other heavy metals
– Category A compost is recommended
– Be careful with biosolids compost
• Use of biochar may reduce N availability
Kammann et al, 2015. http://www.nature.com/articles/srep11080
 Cations and Cation Exchange Capacity

• Cation exchange capacity (CEC) is the total capacity of

a soil to hold exchangeable cations.
• CEC is an inherent soil characteristic and is difficult to
alter significantly.
• It influences the soil’s ability to hold onto essential
nutrients and provides a buffer against soil
acidification.
• Soils with a higher clay fraction tend to have a
higher CEC.
• Organic matter has a very high CEC.
• Sandy soils rely heavily on the high CEC of organic
matter for the retention of nutrients in the topsoil
http://www.soilquality.org.au/factsheets/cation-exchange-capacity
 pH
• Decrease in soil pH increases available Cd
– Liming
• Liming rate
– Organic matter
 Soil pH of Reclaimed Mine Tailings
1 year after Treatment
Rank Name Mean n Non-sig. ranges
----- --------- ------------- ------- -----------------------------
1 CompAsh 6.743 6 a
2 Comp 6.688 6 a
3 CompLime 6.568 6 a
4 CompNPK 5.871 6 a
5 Lime 4.705 6 b
6 Cont 4.591 6 b
LSD 0.05=0.7157
 How Soils Become Acidic
(Iowa State University)

• Nitrification of ammonium
• Bases removed by crops
• Bases removed by leaching
• Acidic parent material
• Carbonic acid from microbial and plant respiration
• Organic acids secreted by plant roots
• Precipitation
• Oxidation of sulfide
 Steps in Making Limestone
Recommendations
• Check soil pH
– Is lime needed?
• Determine CaCO3 requirement
– Use Buffer pH
– Function of the type of soil
• Adjust rate for limestone quality
– ECCE per ton or % (Effective CaCO3 Equivalence)
• Adjust rate for incorporation depth
• Many online calculators eg.
http://garden.org/nga/calculators/index.php?type=limestone
Limestone Needed to Offset Acidity from
Nitrogen Fertilizers Nitrogen

Source Pound of Aglime

per Pound of N
Ammonium Sulfate 7
Ammonium Phosphates 7
Anhydrous Ammonia 4
Urea 4
28% Solution 4 Ammonium Nitrate 4

Approximate amount. Adapted from Modern Corn Production. US

 Removal
• Hyperaccumulator
– A plant ability to grow on soils and to accumulate
extraordinarily high amounts of heavy metals, in excess
of the levels found in the majority of other species,
without suffering phytotoxic effects
• Phytoextraction – manipulation of the soil condition
for maximizing the use of hyperaccumulator to
remove contaminants from the soil
• Many hyperaccumulators for Cd also accumulate for
other heavy metals e.g. Cr, Cu, Cs, Hg, Pb, Sr and Zn
Examples of hyperaccumulators for Cd
• Athyrium yokoscense – Japanese spleenwort
• Avena strigose – Bristle oats
• Brassicaceae - Mustards
• B. Juncea – Indian mustard
• Helianthus annuus – Sunflower
• Salix viminalis L. – Basket willow
• Thlaspi caerulescens- Alpine pennycress
• Amaranthus retroflexus – Redroot amaranth
• Vallisneria spiralis – Eel Grass
• Nicotiana tabacum - Tobacco
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperaccumulators_table_%E2%80%93_3
EPA, 2000 – EPA/600/R-99/107
 Caution with Hyperaccumulators
• Understand which part of the plants that
accumulate the heavy metal
• Biomass must be harvested and removed
• Do not compost biomass for reuse on the
plantation
 Soil Washing
This is possible but not a sustainable option
• Will involve acidification, washing and liming
• Nutrient and organic matter losses
 Biology
• Selection and cultivation of varieties that do not
accumulate Cd or other heavy metals
Questions?