Reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) in Artificial, Contaminated Soil Using Ferrous Sulfate Heptahydrate and Sodium Thiosulfate
Publication: Practice Periodical of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste Management
Volume 13, Issue 2
Abstract
Due to widespread use in industrial applications, chromium compounds are often considered one of the most serious heavy metal pollutants found at environmental sites. Stabilization/solidification has been studied as a means of immobilizing chromium within a solid matrix. Reduction to a lower valence state is an effective treatment option when coupled with a stabilization/solidification treatment, so that any chromium subsequently leached from the treated soil into groundwater is the less toxic and less mobile trivalent form of chromium. Some studies also indicate that reduction from Cr(VI) to Cr(III) is a necessary preliminary step to effective immobilization. Recent studies have reported the use of ferrous sulfate heptahydrate as an effective reducing agent. However, the possibility of chromium release after such treatment has also been called into question. This technical note presents an alternative to ferrous sulfate heptahydrate, the less-expensive sodium thiosulfate, to reduce hexavalent-chromium contaminated soil and compares the results with the use of ferrous sulfate heptahydrate. The most effective ratio of chemical reagent to hexavalent chromium is reported for the purpose of reducing the chromium to the trivalent form in an artificial, contaminated soil for both reductants. The effectiveness of reduction to trivalent chromium was measured using a modified TCLP test. Based on the results reported in this technical note and possible cost savings over the use of ferrous sulfate heptahydrate, further study in the use of sodium thiosulfate for treatment of Cr(VI) contaminated soil is suggested.
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Acknowledgments
The writers wish to thank the university collaboration of Polytechnic University (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and the Università degli Studi della Calabria (Italy) for financial support and Piereantonios Papazoglou and Marilena Papastavros of Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, N.J.) for their assistance with ICP-OES analyses presented in this technical note.
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Published In
Practice Periodical of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste Management
Volume 13 • Issue 2 • April 2009
Pages: 135 - 139
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Aug 20, 2007
Accepted: Oct 10, 2008
Published online: Apr 1, 2009
Published in print: Apr 2009
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