Studies on the effects of some organic pollutants on the heavy metal transport in an Indian soil

The translocation of some heavy metals, such as Hg, Cd, Cu, Co, Ni and Zn, as affected by organic pollutants, i.e. methanol, ethanol, propanol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, benzaldehyde, acetone, ethyl methyl ketone and cyclo-hexanone, was studied in an Indian red soil using soil thin layer chromatography. It was observed that an increase in the concentration of organic compounds in developer enhances the heavy metal mobility, except in the case of Cu and Hg which show a decreasing trend. The results are discussed in relation to the physico-chemical characteristics of the soil and adsorption/desorption phenomena.