[Impact of compounded chelants on removal of heavy metals and characteristics of morphologic change in soil from heavy metals contaminated sites].

Na2 EDTA (EDTA) has been extensively applied in remediation of soil contaminated by heavy metals (HMs). However, it poses a threat to the environment due to its difficulty of degradation. In addition, it is of great importance to clarify the morphological distribution of these metals in soil, as it is related to the environmental risk of contaminated sites. Thus, in order to cut back the use of EDTA, a series of batch washing experiments were conducted to evaluate the removal of arsenic, cadmium, copper, and lead from the contaminated soil collected in a chemical plant. Furthermore, adopting the optimal ratio of EDTA/EDDS, the change of morphological distribution of HMs before and after washing was studied. The results indicated that the removal of arsenic, cadmium and lead reached the maximum when the ratio of EDTA/EDDS was 7:3 and the optimal value was 12.67%, 38.71% and 31.09%, respectively. The removal of copper reached 16.91% at an EDTA/EDDS ratio of 9:1. After washing, the absolute Fe-Mn oxide fraction concentration of arsenic was higher, which would increase the environmental risk; the morphological fraction distribution of cadmium was similar to the original soil; the removal of copper and lead was mainly derived from the Fe-Mn oxide fraction; as to lead, the absolute concentration of Fe-Mn oxide fraction decreased dramatically, was and the same was observed for the percentage in the organic fraction. Employing the compounded system, the removal of HMs could be improved, and meanwhile the amounts of bioavailable HMs declined. Hence, it is beneficial for providing theoretical support for HMs remediation.