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Abstract
The effect of field aging on nickel (Ni) concentration in soil solutions was studied on three soils, with pH 4.5, 6.1, and 7.6, that were spiked with Ni and aged outdoors for 5, 10, and 15 months. Field aging resulted in a minor decrease in total Ni content and a dramatic decrease in Ni concentration in soil solution. Nickel release isotherms in field‐aged soils differ from those in freshly spiked ones. The decrease in soluble Ni in noncalcareous soils at Ni loadings from 25 to 4800 mg kg−1 followed a first‐order kinetic equation. In calcareous soil the observed relationships imply that soluble Ni may be controlled by dissolution of a surface precipitate either on the surface of soil carbonates [NiCO3 or NiCO3 · 2Ni(OH)2] or on the surface of clay minerals (Ni‐aluminum double‐layer hydroxide).
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to the Center for the Study of Metals in the Environment (CSME), University of Delaware, and the Nickel Producers Environmental Research Association (NiPERA) for financial support of this study. Soil samples and the data on soil composition were provided courtesy of E. Smolders and K. Oorts (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium).