14
Trace Elements in Abiotic and Biotic Environments
TABLE 3.1
Arsenic Contents in Soils, Water, and Air
Environmental Compartment
Range/Mean
Soil (mg/kg)
Light sandy
<0.1–30
Medium loamy
1.5–27
Heavy loamy
2–35
Organic
<0.1–67
Water (μg/L)
Rain
0.3–0.4
River
0.2–9.5
Sea, ocean
1.2–3.7
Air (ng/m 3 )
Urban
2–53
Greenland
0.6
Antarctica
0.007
Sources: Data are given for uncontaminated environments,
from Kabata-Pendias, A. and Mukherjee, A.B.,
Trace Elements from Soil to Human, Springer,
Berlin, Germany, 2007; Reimann, C. and
de  Caritat, P., Chemical Elements in the
Environment, Springer, Berlin, Germany, 1998.
Due to the release of As from various industrial sources, especially from coal
burning, its content in many soils is increased, sometimes even up to 20,000 mg/kg
(Smith et al. 1998). Other sources of As are (1) landfills and other disposals, especially sludges; (2) chemical and allied products; and (3) lumber and various wood
products. Agricultural and orchard practices may be a significant source of As, as
its contents are usually elevated in pesticides, fertilizer, sewage sludge, and manure.
As Smith et  al. (1998) reported, the highest As concentrations in orchard soils of
Washington State was within the range of 106–2553 mg/kg. Elevated As contents
are also noticed in the house garden and children yard soils. Especially, groundwater
contamination by As is of great agricultural concern.
According to the criteria for the contaminated land (Dutch List 2013), the following As concentrations in soils and groundwater are established (in mg/kg, and
μg/L): uncontaminated—20 and 10; medium contaminated—50 and 30; heavily
contaminated—50 and 100.
Arsenic readily changes valence state and reacts with soils to form species
with varying mobility. It is easily changed from As 5+ to As 3+ by Fe 2+ and sorbed
by Fe compounds (Lee et  al. 2011). Therefore, various treatments are used for
the soil remediation, from As stabilization to electrokinetics and phytoremediation. De Andrade et al. (2012) investigated the speciation of As in sulfide material