A greenhouse experiment was conducted to elucidate the growth changes and tissues anatomical characteristics of giant reed(Arundo donax L.),a perennial rhizomatous grass,which was cultivated for 70 d in soils contaminated with As,Cd and Pb.The results show that giant reed rapidly grows with big biomass of shoots in contaminated soil,possessing strong metal-tolerance with limited metal translocation from roots to shoots.When As,Cd and Pb concentrations in the soil are less than 254,76.1 and 1 552 mg/kg,respectively,plant height and dried biomass are slightly reduced,the accumulation of As,Cd and Pb in shoots of giant reed is low while metal concentration in roots is high,and the anatomical characteristics of stem tissues are thick and homogeneous according to SEM images.However,plant height and dried biomass are significantly reduced and metal concentration in plant shoots and roots are significantly increased(P<0.05),the stems images become heterogeneous and the secretion in vascular bundles increases significantly when As,Cd and Pb concentrations in the soil exceed 334,101 and 2 052 mg/kg,respectively.The giant reed is a promising,naturally occurring plant with strong metal-tolerance,which can be cultivated in soils contaminated with multiple metals for ecoremediation purposes.
Environmental availability and profile characteristics of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) were studied in contaminated vegetable soils from the Pb/Zn mining and smelting areas in Hunan Province of China, and the potential environmental risks of these metals were also assessed. The results show that the concentrations of As, Cd, Pb and Zn in vegetable soils are higher than the levels of Soil Environmental Quality of China (GB15618—1995). The mobility of metals in soil profiles is mainly characterized by the low pH and organic matter content of soil. The major part of As, Cd, Pb and Zn is restricted to the upper soils and the contamination of these metals in soils is significantly influenced by the long-term Pb/Zn mining and smelting activities. Based on the results from the BCR sequential extraction, the fraction of Cd in the soil profiles is predominantly existed in the acid-extractable form and the large amount of Pb is closely associated with reducible fraction. The environmental availability of Cd and Pb is predominantly higher than that of As and Zn in the soil profiles, suggesting Cd and Pb have more huge potential risk for human health and surrounding environment.
Two acidic ferrisols, i.e., red soil （RS） and yellow red soil （YRS）, from the vicinity regions of non-ferrous ores in Hunan province of China, were leached with simulated acid rain through artificial column experiments. The results show that the total leaching mass of metals are m（Zn）〉m（Cu）〉m（Cd） from the original soils and m（Cd）〉m（Zn）〉〉 m（Cu） from the contaminated soils with external metals after leaching for 60 d continuously, leaching quantities of Cd and Zn from the contaminated red soil （CRS） are more than that from the contaminated yellow red soil （CYRS）, but for Cu, it is almost the same. The preferential fractions for leaching are mainly in exchangeable forms, and content of exchangeable forms decreases significantly in the contaminated soil profiles. The unstable fractions of Cd, Cu and Zn in the RS and YRS increase significantly with the decrease of pH value of simulated acid rain. Changes of fi, actions of external Cd, Cu, and Zn in the residual CRS and CYRS profiles are significantly affected by the acidity of acid rain, too. After leaching for 60 d continuously, Cd exists mostly in exchangeable form, Cu exists mainly in exchangeable, manganese oxide-occluded and organically bounding forms, and Zn exists in residual in CRS and CYRS profiles. Most of exchangeable Cd and Zn exist only small in surface layer （0-20 cm） and are transferred to the sub-layers, contrarily, Cu accumulates mostly in the topsoil （0-20 cm） with low translocation.
An orthogonal array,L16(45),was used to examine the effects of four parameters,including NaCl concentration,H2SO4 concentration,temperature and pulp density,on the recovery of Cu,In,Pb and Zn from a hydrometallurgical residue via brine leaching.The results show that temperature of leaching solution has a significant effect on the recovery of Cu,In and Zn,while H2SO4 concentration has an obvious influence on these metals extraction.Both pulp density and NaCl concentration significantly affect Pb extraction.Based on the orthogonal array experiments,the optimum conditions for the extraction of Cu,In,Pb and Zn from hydrometallurgical residue are NaCl concentration of 250 g/L,H2SO4 concentration of 1.00 mol/L,temperature of 85℃,and pulp density of 100 g/L.After 1 h of treatment at these optimum conditions,over 91% of the metals are extracted from the residue.Brine leaching is therefore suitable for the recovery of metals from hydrometallurgical residues.
