| Abstract: | Solubility and retention of heavy metals in soils Model experiments were carried out under oxidizing conditions with soil samples from surface and subsurface horizons of different composition in order to investigate the solubility and retention of Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb in soils. The solubility of heavy metals is mainly determined by ad- and desorption processes and complexation reactions of organic and inorganic ligands. Precipitation and dissolution of definite heavy metal compounds do not seem to govern the solution concentration in soils. An exception may probably be the formation of lead phosphate and zinc silicate under specific reaction conditions. The main factors which determine solubility and retention of heavy metals are total amount (except the proportion incorporated in the silicate structure) of the different metals, soil reaction, content of mobilizing and immobilizing organic substances, content of pedogenic oxides and clay minerals, and kind and concentration of salts and inorganic ligands. The results of the model experiments are used together with the results of other authors and general physico-chemical data to give an interpretation of the solubility behaviour of heavy metals in soils. The relations between heavy metal solubility, availability and mobility and possible procedures for melioration of soils contaminated with heavy metals are discussed. |
