Adsorption and solubility of ten metals in soil samples of different composition

We conducted batch experiments for ten metals [Mg, Cr(III), Fe(III), Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Cd, Pb] and four soil samples of different composition to determine the relation of the soluble fraction (’intensity’) to an adsorbed or precipitated metal pool (’quantity’) and, thus, to investigate the buffer function of soils. The soil samples were spiked with 6 to 12 exponentially increasing metal doses added as metal nitrates. The native metal pool involved in sorption processes was characterized by an extraction with 0.025 M (NH 4 ) 2 EDTA (pH 4.6). The quantity‐intensity (Q/I) relations of eight metals [except Cr(III) and Fe(III)] were governed by sorption and complexation processes and can be fitted by Freundlich isotherms. Q/I relations for Cr(III) and two soils indicate a sorption maximum, which can be approximated with the Langmuir isotherm. In a calcareous soil high Cr doses induced the precipitation of a Cr oxide. The solution concentrations of Fe are primarily a function of the pH‐dependent solubility of ferrihydrite. For all metals pH was the predominant factor controlling the partitioning between the solid and the liquid phase. Drastic losses in the buffer function of soils primarily occurred in the slightly acidic range. Furthermore, adsorption was also metal specific. On the basis of median Freundlich K values, adsorption increased in the order [median K F values and K F range (mg kg —1 ) in brackets]: Mg (2.9: 0.9—19) < Sr (4.7: 0.6—21) << Co (17.7: 1.1—143) < Zn (26.7: 1.8—301) = Ni (27.6: 2.4—120) < Cd (71: 2.5—405) << Cr(III) (329: 45—746) < Cu (352: 30—1200) < Pb (1730: 76—4110).