Adsorption of mercury compounds by tropical soils

✍ Scribed by E. Semu; B. R. Singh; A. R. Selmer-Olsen

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1986
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 463 KB
• Volume: 27
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0049-6979
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00464766

✦ Synopsis

Mercury adsorption of HgC12 and 2-methoxyethylmercury chloride (Aretan) (100 mg Hg L-1) was measured for three soil profiles from Morogoro, Arusha, and Dares Salaam in Tanzania. The adsorption was investigated for the physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties of the soils. All soil samples showed greater capacity for adsorption of Aretan than for HgC12. In the Morogoro profile Hg adsorption decreased with depth but in the other two soils, the minimum adsorption occurred in the third horizon and increased both upwards and downwards. In the Morogoro profile, Aretan adsorption correlated well with pH. Adsorption of both Aretan and HgC12 correlated well with the distribution of organic C and with the cation exchange capacity of the soils. In the Arusha and Dares Salaam profiles Hg adsorption was not significantly correlated with any of the soil properties tested.