A leaching column study of bone meal amendments to metal polluted soil

Many metal phosphates are extremely stable under the range of Eh and pH conditions encountered in the natural environment. It has been suggested that, for metal contaminated soils, the formation of metal phosphates could effectively "lock up" the metals in situ so that they would no longer pose a pollution problem. In this paper we report a leaching column investigation into the suitability of bone meal as a phosphorus source for the formation of metal phosphates and remediation of metal contaminated soils. Bone meal amendments reduced the release of metal ions into soil leachate, reduced the concentration of metal ions in pore waters, increased soil py reduced metal availability as assessed by DTPA and CaCl2 extraction and reduced toxicity of soil leachate to soil organisms as assessed by bioassays. These results suggest that bone meal could be a suitable remediation treatment for metal contaminated soil.