Abstract
This investigation examines metal release from freshwater sediment using sequential extraction and single-step cold-acid leaching. The concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn released using a standard 3-step sequential extraction (Rauret et al., 1999) are compared to those released using a 0.5 M HCl; leach. The results show that the three sediments behave in very different ways when subject to the same leaching experiments: the cold-acid extraction appears to remove higher relative concentrations of metals from the iron-rich sediment than from the other two sediments. Cold-acid extraction appears to be more effective at removing metals from sediments with crystalline iron oxides than the “reducible” step of the sequential extraction. The results show that a single-step acid leach can be just as effective as sequential extractions at removing metals from sediment and are a great deal less time-consuming.
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Cook, S.R., Parker, A. Sequential extraction and single-step cold-acid extraction: A feasibility study for use with freshwater-canal sediments. Water Air Soil Pollut 170, 95–105 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-006-2815-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-006-2815-7