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Assessment of Mobility and Bioavailability of Heavy Metals in Sewage Sludge from Swaziland through Speciation Analysis

Received: 21 August 2014     Accepted: 30 August 2014     Published: 20 September 2014
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Abstract

Speciation analysis of heavy metals in sewage sludge provides a better understanding of the extent of mobility and bioavailability of the different metal fractions and helps in more informed decision making on application of sludge for agricultural purposes. Assessment of bioavailability of metals based on regulations expressed in terms of total metals alone may be conservative and restrictive from the point of view of the use of sludge for agricultural applications. Total metals may also be poor indicators of uptake by plants. Sewage sludge samples generated from seven wastewater treatment plants in Swaziland were analyzed for the four fractions of metals species, namely, exchangeable, reducible, oxidizable and residual fractions. The experimental results indicated that arsenic was predominantly associated with the residual matrix. Chromium was dominantly found in the residual fraction followed by oxidizable fraction. Lead and copper were predominantly associated with oxidizable fraction (bound to organic matter). For more polluted effluents such as Matsapha waste water treatment plant, some metals such as nickel were also found significantly in the mobile fraction. By contrast zinc and to a certain extent nickel were present in significant proportions in the more mobile (exchangeable) fraction. The experimental result indicated that the percentage immobility ranges from 10% to 70% with respect to the residual solid fraction of the metals which should be considered as an additional safety factor in the assessment of the suitability of the sludge for agricultural uses with respect to heavy metals.

Published in American Journal of Environmental Protection (Volume 3, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajep.20140304.14
Page(s) 198-208
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Heavy Metals, Bioavailability, Metal Speciation, Metals in Sludge, Exchangeable Metals

References
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  • APA Style

    Amos O. Fadiran, Ababu T. Tiruneh, Joseph S. Mtshali. (2014). Assessment of Mobility and Bioavailability of Heavy Metals in Sewage Sludge from Swaziland through Speciation Analysis. American Journal of Environmental Protection, 3(4), 198-208. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140304.14

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    ACS Style

    Amos O. Fadiran; Ababu T. Tiruneh; Joseph S. Mtshali. Assessment of Mobility and Bioavailability of Heavy Metals in Sewage Sludge from Swaziland through Speciation Analysis. Am. J. Environ. Prot. 2014, 3(4), 198-208. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20140304.14

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    AMA Style

    Amos O. Fadiran, Ababu T. Tiruneh, Joseph S. Mtshali. Assessment of Mobility and Bioavailability of Heavy Metals in Sewage Sludge from Swaziland through Speciation Analysis. Am J Environ Prot. 2014;3(4):198-208. doi: 10.11648/j.ajep.20140304.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajep.20140304.14,
      author = {Amos O. Fadiran and Ababu T. Tiruneh and Joseph S. Mtshali},
      title = {Assessment of Mobility and Bioavailability of Heavy Metals in Sewage Sludge from Swaziland through Speciation Analysis},
      journal = {American Journal of Environmental Protection},
      volume = {3},
      number = {4},
      pages = {198-208},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajep.20140304.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140304.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajep.20140304.14},
      abstract = {Speciation analysis of heavy metals in sewage sludge provides a better understanding of the extent of mobility and bioavailability of the different metal fractions and helps in more informed decision making on application of sludge for agricultural purposes. Assessment of bioavailability of metals based on regulations expressed in terms of total metals alone may be conservative and restrictive from the point of view of the use of sludge for agricultural applications. Total metals may also be poor indicators of uptake by plants. Sewage sludge samples generated from seven wastewater treatment plants in Swaziland were analyzed for the four fractions of metals species, namely, exchangeable, reducible, oxidizable and residual fractions. The experimental results indicated that arsenic was predominantly associated with the residual matrix. Chromium was dominantly found in the residual fraction followed by oxidizable fraction. Lead and copper were predominantly associated with oxidizable fraction (bound to organic matter). For more polluted effluents such as Matsapha waste water treatment plant, some metals such as nickel were also found significantly in the mobile fraction. By contrast zinc and to a certain extent nickel were present in significant proportions in the more mobile (exchangeable) fraction. The experimental result indicated that the percentage immobility ranges from 10% to 70% with respect to the residual solid fraction of the metals which should be considered as an additional safety factor in the assessment of the suitability of the sludge for agricultural uses with respect to heavy metals.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Assessment of Mobility and Bioavailability of Heavy Metals in Sewage Sludge from Swaziland through Speciation Analysis
    AU  - Amos O. Fadiran
    AU  - Ababu T. Tiruneh
    AU  - Joseph S. Mtshali
    Y1  - 2014/09/20
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140304.14
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajep.20140304.14
    T2  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JF  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    JO  - American Journal of Environmental Protection
    SP  - 198
    EP  - 208
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5699
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajep.20140304.14
    AB  - Speciation analysis of heavy metals in sewage sludge provides a better understanding of the extent of mobility and bioavailability of the different metal fractions and helps in more informed decision making on application of sludge for agricultural purposes. Assessment of bioavailability of metals based on regulations expressed in terms of total metals alone may be conservative and restrictive from the point of view of the use of sludge for agricultural applications. Total metals may also be poor indicators of uptake by plants. Sewage sludge samples generated from seven wastewater treatment plants in Swaziland were analyzed for the four fractions of metals species, namely, exchangeable, reducible, oxidizable and residual fractions. The experimental results indicated that arsenic was predominantly associated with the residual matrix. Chromium was dominantly found in the residual fraction followed by oxidizable fraction. Lead and copper were predominantly associated with oxidizable fraction (bound to organic matter). For more polluted effluents such as Matsapha waste water treatment plant, some metals such as nickel were also found significantly in the mobile fraction. By contrast zinc and to a certain extent nickel were present in significant proportions in the more mobile (exchangeable) fraction. The experimental result indicated that the percentage immobility ranges from 10% to 70% with respect to the residual solid fraction of the metals which should be considered as an additional safety factor in the assessment of the suitability of the sludge for agricultural uses with respect to heavy metals.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Chemistry, University of Swaziland, Kwaluseni, Swaziland

  • Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Swaziland, Mbabane, Swaziland

  • Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Swaziland, Mbabane, Swaziland

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