Evaluation of the adsorption potentialities of humate substances in sandy soils and aqueous phase

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the adsorption potentialities of humate substances in natural environments. Humic acid and insolubilized humic acid are selected as prototypes. This paper presents the development of a new remediation technology for contaminated sandy soil using humic acid (HA). The results indicated a significant increase of the adsorption of Cr (VI) because the complexion reaction between HA and Cr (VI) occurred under acidic condition. At the same time, Insolubilized humic acid (IHA) was prepared to avoid the soluble state of this natural HA in alkaline media and to be able to study the adsorption behavior of this insolubilized humic acid with chromium at different pH and temperature values. Thus it could be concluded that humate substances could be used effectively on remediation of Cr (VI)-contaminated soil and groundwater in a wide range of pH. These results suggest that the organic-inorganic complex-such as sandy soils coated with humic substances-is important as a metal reservoir in the environment.