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ASSESSMENT OF BIOCHAR AND ZERO-VALENT IRON FOR IN-SITU REMEDIATION OF CHROMATED COPPER ARSENATE CONTAMINATED SOIL
Frick, H., S. Tardif, E. Kandeler, P.E. Holm, and K.K.Brandt.
Science of The Total Environment 655:414-422(2019)

A Triad approach that combined chemical, ecotoxicological and ecological assessment of soil quality was used to investigate the abilities of biochar and zero-valent iron (ZVI) to remediate chromated copper arsenate (CCA) contaminated soil in a microcosm experiment. Soil samples from a highly contaminated CCA site (1,364, 1,662 and 540 µg/g of As, Cu, and Cr, respectively) were treated with two different biochars (fine and coarse particle size; 1% w/w) and ZVI (5% w/w), both as sole and combined treatments were conducted alone and in combination. The microcosms were incubated for 56 days at 15°C. In general, bioavailable As (Asbio) and Cu (Cubio) determined by whole-cell bacterial bioreporters corresponded well to water-extractable As and Cu (Aswater and Cuwater). However, in biochar treatments, only Cubio and not Cuwater was significantly reduced. Under ZVI treatments, only Cuwater and not Cubio was reduced, demonstrating the value of complementing analytical with bacterial bioreporter measurements to infer bioavailability of elements to soil microorganisms. The combined fine particle size biochar and ZVI treatment reduced water-extractable concentrations of Cr (45%), Cu (45%), and As (43%) and led to the highest ecological recovery of the soil bacterial community, as measured using the [3H]leucine incorporation technique.



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