Suppression of arsenic leaching from excavated soil and the contribution of soluble and insoluble components in steel slag on arsenic immobilization.

A huge amount of soil is excavated by tunnel and road construction projects in urban, coastal, and mountainous regions. These projects enable the effective use of underground spaces, and generally, the excavated soil is expected to be reused after treatment, which is required due to the potential release of geogenic arsenic from the soil. The present study investigated the level of water-soluble arsenic and arsenic phases in excavated soil in order to identify how arsenic is immobilized by soluble calcium and insoluble components in steel slag. The soluble calcium was found to suppress the level of water-soluble arsenic as well as arsenic in fraction 1 (nonspecifically bound) identified by sequential extraction from the soil but increased the level of fraction 2: specifically bound arsenic. The insoluble component did not suppress the level of water-soluble arsenic, but decreased and increased the arsenic levels in fractions 2 and 3 (amorphous iron/aluminum oxide bound), respectively. A column percolation test demonstrated that the arsenic that was inhibited from leaching by the addition of steel slag was the fractions 1 and 2 arsenic. The amounts of arsenic released in the serial batch leaching test were comparable with levels leached regardless of the addition of steel slag. These results indicate that both soluble calcium and insoluble components of steel slag have different roles in suppressing arsenic leaching from excavated soil. Based on these results, it is suggested that steel slag could be utilized to suppress arsenic release, thus enabling the reuse of excavated soil.

The effects of redox conditions on arsenic re-release from excavated marine sedimentary rock with naturally suppressed arsenic release.

Massive quantities of marine sedimentary rock are excavated from urban coastal areas. The excavated rock often releases arsenic with concurrent oxidation of framboidal pyrite, but the arsenic release is naturally suppressed with subsequent atmospheric exposure. The present study evaluated the re-release of arsenic from excavated rock in which arsenic release has been naturally suppressed by the atmospheric exposure in the presence of sulfate ions under various redox conditions using the biological reduction method. The atmospheric exposure and subsequent batch leaching test revealed that the amount of arsenic release that was naturally suppressed corresponded to 1.2% of the total arsenic content. The sequential extraction analysis also showed that the arsenic in the exposed rock was altered to insoluble phases. We observed a re-release of 6.0-18.2% of the total arsenic content under reductive conditions (< + 70 mV of Eh), exceeding the amount of arsenic that was naturally suppressed, even in the presence of sulfate ions. The correlation in the amount of arsenic and iron re-released demonstrates that arsenic re-release under reductive conditions is mainly regulated by the iron dissolution up to 10 mg kg-1 even in the presence of sulfate ion. Further reduction and dissolution of iron did not cause further increase in the arsenic re-release. Therefore, excavated marine sedimentary rock should be reused under redox conditions in which iron is not reduced. Otherwise, treatments such as chemical immobilization should be performed.

Arsenic release from marine sedimentary rock after excavation from urbanized coastal areas: Oxidation of framboidal pyrite and subsequent natural suppression of arsenic release.

Massive quantities of marine sedimentary rock are excavated from urban coastal areas for making underground spaces available for infrastructure projects globally. The excavated rock often contains low levels of framboidal pyrite, which can release arsenic (As) to levels that exceed environmental standards. In the present study, changes in As release and its phases were investigated during oxidation of framboidal pyrite in marine sedimentary rock following exposure to the atmosphere. Batch leaching tests showed that As release increases with atmospheric exposures over 14 days, and then decreases. In unexposed rock, 79% of As released was As(III), but the proportion of As(V) increased with atmospheric exposure times. The ratio of readily soluble As fractions (fraction 1 + 2) following sequential extraction also increased during the first 14 days of atmospheric exposures, and then decreased. In comparisons of As phases before and after leaching tests of atmosphere-exposed rocks, ratios of readily soluble As fractions decreased over 90-day atmospheric exposures. Amounts of amorphous iron also increased with the duration of atmospheric exposures. However, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope analyses showed that framboidal pyrite morphology was maintained after 90 days of atmospheric exposure. Herein, we identify factors that control As release and its phases from marine sedimentary rock after excavation. The results will inform future studies that will indicate when and how to evaluate the risks of As release from marine sedimentary rocks containing framboidal pyrite.