Chemical and plant tests to assess the viability of amendments to reduce metal availability in mine soils and tailings

The goal of this research was to assess the potential of several industrial wastes to immobilise metals in two polluted soils deriving from an old Pb/Zn mine. Two different approaches were used to assess the performance of different amendments: a chemical one, using extraction by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), and a biological one, using Lupinus albus as a bio-indicator. Four amendments were used: inorganic sugar production waste (named ‘sugar foam’, SF), sludge from a drinking water treatment sludge (DWS), organic waste from olive mill waste (OMW) and paper mill sludge (PMS). Amendment to soil ratios ranged from 0.1 to 0.3 (w/w). All the amendments were capable of significantly decreasing (p?<?0.05) EDTA-extractable Pb, Zn and Cu concentrations in the two soils used, with decreases in ranges 21–100, 25–100 and 2–100 % for Pb, Zn and Cu, respectively. The amendments tested were also effective in reducing the bioavailability of Pb and Zn for L. albus, which gave rise to a decrease in shoot metal accumulation by the lupine plants compared to that found in the control soil. That decrease reached up to 5.6 and 2.8 times for Pb and Zn, respectively, being statistically significant in most cases. Moreover, application of the OMW, DWS and SF amendments led to higher average values of plant biomass (up to 71 %) than those obtained in the control soil. The results obtained showed the technology put forward to be a viable means of remediating mine soils as it led to a decrease in the availability and toxicity of metals and, thus, facilitated the growth of a vegetation layer.