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Chemical Speciation and Potential Mobility of Heavy

Metals in the Soil of Former Tin Mining Catchment


M. A. Ashraf
1,
, M. !. Maah
1
and ". #$soff
%
1
Department of Chemistry University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
2
Department of eolo!y, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia.
" Correspon#in! author, e$mail% &hema'eel(!mail.&om
&'tended Abstract
)ithin the terrestrial e&osystem, soils play a ma*or role in element &y&lin! an# a&&umulate
heavy metals in &on&entration or#ers of ma!nitu#e hi!her than in +ater an# air. Mean+hile,
soils are the reservoir for many harmful &onstituents, elemental an# ,iolo!i&al, in&lu#in!
heavy metals an# tra&e metals, hen&eforth referre# to as *ust metals -1.. /otal metal &ontent
of soils is useful for many !eo&hemi&al appli&ations ,ut often the spe&iation 0,ioavaila,ility1
of these metals is more of an interest a!ri&ulturally in terms of +hat is ,iolo!i&ally
e2tra&ta,le -2.. 3pe&iation is #efine# as the i#entifi&ation an# 'uantifi&ation of the #ifferent,
#efine# spe&ies, forms or phases in +hi&h an element o&&urs -3. an# is essentially a fun&tion
of the mineralo!y an# &hemistry of the soil sample e2amine# -4.. 5uantifi&ation is typi&ally
#one usin! &hemi&al solutions of varyin!, ,ut spe&ifi&, stren!ths an# rea&tivities to release
metals from the #ifferent fra&tions of the e2amine# soil -5.. 6n terms of ,ioavaila,ility,
various spe&ies of metals are more ,iolo!i&ally availa,le in the e&osystem -6.. 7ioavaila,ility
an# the mo,ility of metals are also relate# to ea&h otehr, then thhi!her the &on&entration of
mo,ile to2i& metals 0Cu, 8,, C#, an# 9l1 in the soil &olumn +hi&h in&reases the potential for
plant upta:e, an# animal;human &onsumption -3, <, =.. >eavy metals ta:e part in
,io!eo&hemi&al &y&les an# are not permanently fi2e# in soils? therefore, assessment of their
#istri,ution in soils is a :ey issue in many environmental stu#ies -@.. >eavy metals are
in&lu#e# in soil minerals as +ell as ,oun# to #ifferent phases of soil parti&les ,y a variety of
me&hanisms, mainly a,sorption, ion e2&han!e, &opre&ipitation an# &omple2ation. Moreover,
soil properties su&h as &ontents of or!ani& matter, &ar,onates, o2i#es as +ell as soil stru&ture
an# profile #evelopment influen&e the heavy metal mo,ility -10.. /he :no+le#!e of the
,in#in! of metals +ith the #ifferent soil phases an# &omponents is of ma*or interest to assess
the &onne&tions +ith other ,ioti& an# a,ioti& elements of the environment -11.. Aevertheless,
as Ca,ral an# Lefe,vre in#i&ate, the metal spe&iation is a more &omple2 tas: that
#etermination of total metal &ontents -12..
6t is !enerally re&o!niBe# that information a,out the physi&o$&hemi&al forms of the elements
is re'uire# for un#erstan#in! their mo,ility, path+ays an# ,ioavaila,ility -13.. /herefore,
i#entifi&ation an# 'uantifi&ation of the #ifferent spe&ies or forms of phases in +hi&h the
heavy metals o&&ur is very important to #etermine their ,ioavaila,ility in the environment.
7estari Caya &at&hment is lo&ate# at 3
0
, 24D 40.41E A an# 101
0
24D 56.23E F. 6t is a part of
Kuala 3elan!or #istri&t, lo&ate# in 3elan!or, ,i!!est state of the &ountry. Distri&t Kuala
3elan!or has three main to+ns namely, Mu:im 7atan! 7er*untai, Mu:im Ulu /in!!i, Mu:im
/!.:aran!. 7estari Caya is lo&ate# in Mu:im 7atan! 7er*untai. /in minin! a&tivities has
&ease# from last ten years, no+ san# minin!. /he &at&hment has total of 442 small an# ,i!
minin! la:es an# pon#s. 7estari Caya has a tropi&al, humi# &limate, +ith very little variations
in temperature throu!hout the year. /he avera!e temperature of the area is 32
0
C #urin! #ay
an# 23
0
C at ni!ht -14..9 total of five sele&te# sites have ,een sample# an# five su,samples
+ere ta:en in ea&h site to &reate a &omposite sample -15.. /he si2 elements have ,een
analyse# ,y the se'uential e2tra&tion pro&e#ure usin! opti&al emission spe&trometry 06C8
GF31. 3mall amounts of Cu, Cr an# 9s +ere retrieve# from the e2&han!ea,le phase, the
rea#y availa,le for ,io!eo&hemistry &y&les in the e&osystems -16.. /herefore, lo+ 'uantities
of Cu an# 9s &an ,e ta:en up ,y plants in these a&i#i& soils. Hn +as not #ete&te# in the
,ioavaila,le forms as +ell as 8, that +as only present in ne!li!i,le amounts in very fe+
samples. /he a,sen&e of mo,ile forms of 8, in all soils eliminates the to2i& ris: ,oth in the
trophi& &hain an# from its mi!ration #o+n+ar#s the soil profile -1<.. /he lar!est &ontents of
3n, 8,, Hn an# 9s +ere retrieve# from the resi#ual phase +here metals are stron!ly ,oun# to
minerals, +hereas Hn from the &ar,onate an# o2i#e phases amounts 050.14I1 of its total
&ontent. Cr 03@.24I1 +as mostly a,un#ant in e2&han!ea,le fra&tion, 8, 042.2<I1 +as mostly
a,un#ant in the fra&tion ,oun# to o2i#es, Cu 051.33I1 +as mostly a,un#ant in the fra&tion
,oun# to or!ani& matter an# the remainin! metals +ere mostly a,un#ant in resi#ual fra&tion.
Jesults in#i&ate that most of the metals ha# hi!h a,un#an&e in resi#ual fra&tion in#i&atin!
litho!eni& ori!in an# lo+ ,ioavaila,ility of the metals &onsi#ere# -1=.. /he avera!e potential
mo,ility +as &al&ulate# for the metals !ivin! the follo+in! or#er% 3nKCuKHnK8,KCrK9s.
Fig 1( Map of )estari !aya Catchment
Fig$re %( Percentages of Metals in different fractions
Fig$re *( Potential Mobility of soil
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