Detoxification of polluted marine sediments using water treatment sludge.
The purpose of this study was development of the optimal conditions for the inertization of the polluted marine sediments using groundwater treatment sludge highly enriched in iron and aluminum. For that purpose fine-grained sediment (>85% clay and silt fraction) highly enriched in copper and zinc was amended with the waste sludge (from 10% to 50%). The sample with the optimum percentage of the waste sludge was further subjected the thermal treatment at 200-800°C. The efficiency of the treatment was determined by the leaching tests and toxicity testing using Hordeum vulgare L. as biosystem. The percentage of the seed germination, the root elongation, and the germination index before and following the treatment were determined. Untreated sediment leachate caused significant arrest in the percentage of the seed germination (6.7 ± 6.7%), the root elongation (1.9 ± 2.2%), and the germination index (0.2 ± 0.3%) with EC50 of 24.9%, suggesting a significant toxic potential of the sediments. After amendment with 30% of the waste sludge the concentrations of the considered micropollutants decreased below regulated values while all three toxicological parameters showed no significant difference compared to the negative control. The toxicity of the sediment was completely removed following the thermal treatment at 400°C.
['Orescanin|Visnja|V|', 'Kollar|Robert|R|', 'Nad|Karlo|K|', 'Halkijevic|Ivan|I|', 'Kuspilic|Marin|M|']
D000535:Aluminum D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental D003300:Copper D004787:Environmental Pollution D019015:Geologic Sediments D018525:Germination D001467:Hordeum D007501:Iron D012639:Seeds D012722:Sewage D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical D018508:Water Purification D015032:Zinc
inertization Copper zinc waste sludge thermal treatment Hordeum vulgare L. polluted sediments