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Arsenic Status and Distribution in Soils at Disused Cattle Dip in South Africa

Abstract The status and the distribution of arsenic in
soils from a disused cattle dip were determined. Elevated
total arsenic levels (1,033–1,369 mg/L) were detected in
the soils. Significant difference (p\0.05) between the
values for the soils obtained from the contaminated sites
and control site (0.15 mg/L) was observed. The level of
total arsenic decreased with increase in depth. The peak
total arsenic (1,369 mg/L) was obtained at 0 cm depth,
indicating the abundance of arsenic at the surface despite
the fact that the dip has been out of use for a long time. The
total arsenic recorded for different depths were significantly
higher than the trigger value of 40 mg/kg. The
distribution of arsenic in the different phases showed that
arsenic was mostly bound to the residual fractions (52%)
and Fe and Al hydroxides (21%). The distribution of
arsenic in the order phases was in the following order:
exchangeable (14%), carbonates (10%) and soluble (3%).

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:tut/oai:encore.tut.ac.za:d1000864
Date04 October 2007
CreatorsOkokwo, JO
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText
FormatPdf
RightsSpringer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007
RelationBull Environ Contam Toxicol

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