Soil contamination from heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (PAH, PCB and HCB) in the coastal area of Västernorrland, Sweden

• Main Authors: Lindh, Per, Lemenkova, Polina
• Other Authors: Lund University Lund, Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: Marine pollution; Soil; Civil engineering; Geotechnical engineering; Baltic Sea; ACM: I.: Computing Methodologies; ACM: I.: Computing Methodologies/I.3: COMPUTER GRAPHICS; ACM: I.: Computing Methodologies/I.6: SIMULATION AND MODELING; ACM: I.: Computing Methodologies/I.6: SIMULATION AND MODELING/I.6.1: Simulation Theory; ACM: I.: Computing Methodologies/I.6: SIMULATION AND MODELING/I.6.5: Model Development; ACM: I.: Computing Methodologies/I.6: SIMULATION AND MODELING/I.6.5: Model Development/I.6.5.0: Modeling methodologies; ACM: K.: Computing Milieux; ACM: K.: Computing Milieux/K.4: COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY; [CHIM]Chemical Sciences; [CHIM.MATE]Chemical Sciences/Material chemistry; [SPI.GCIV]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Civil Engineering; [SPI.GCIV.GEOTECH]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Civil Engineering/Géotechnique; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; [CHIM.GENI]Chemical Sciences/Chemical engineering; [CHIM.ORGA]Chemical Sciences/Organic chemistry; [INFO.INFO-DS]Computer Science [cs]/Data Structures and Algorithms [cs.DS]; [INFO.INFO-GR]Computer Science [cs]/Graphics [cs.GR]; [SDE.IE]Environmental Sciences/Environmental Engineering; [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-03707806; https://hal.science/hal-03707806/document; https://hal.science/hal-03707806/file/Soil_contamination.pdf; https://doi.org/10.24425/gsm.2022.141662

International audience This paper presents an experimental study on the leaching of heavy metals, toxic chemicals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) – PAH, PCB and HCB – from soil dredged from the coastal area of Västernorrland in northern Sweden. The soil was stabilized with cement/slag. Samples were subjected to modified surface leaching and shake tests using technical standards of the Swedish Geotechnical Institute (SGI). The experiments were performed using different blends of binding agents (30/70, 50/50, 70/30) and binder quantities (120 and 150 kg/m3) to analyze their effects on leaching. Soil properties, tools, and workflow are described. Binders included Portland cement and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS). Samples were tested to evaluate the min/max contents of pollutants (μg/l) for heavy metals (As, Ba, Pb, Cd, Co, Cu, Cr, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, S, V, Zn) and the hydrocarbon fraction index in the excess water. The leaching of heavy metals and POPs was assessed in sediments after the addition of the binder. The comparison was made against the two mixes (cement/slag in 30/70% and high/low binder with low/high water ratio). The results showed that 70% slag decreases the leaching of heavy metals and POPs. The equilibrium concentrations of DOC and heavy metals at L/S 10 (μg/l) were measured during the shake experiments to compare their levels in the groundwater that was used as a leachate. The leached content was assessed at L/S 10 in the upscaling experiments using four samples for PAH, PCB and various fractions of hydrocarbons: C10–C40, C10–C12, C12–C16 and C35–C40. The shake test showed a decrease in the leaching of heavy metals and POP substances from the soil subjected to stabilization by a higher amount of slag added as a binder. A binder blend with 30% cement and 70% of GGBFS showed the best performance.