Spectroscopic Approaches to Defining Cd in Biosolids

Top: Nu Earth biosolids. Bottom: "Hotspots" of Fe are similar to hotspots for Cd on an XRF map.

Scientists have long studied metals in biosolids in order to understand the potential hazards to plants, animals, and the human food chain. From this body of work, it was concluded that the addition of biosolids to soil alters the chemical phases in the soil system beyond that of the simple addition of greater quantities of trace elements as salts. Further, this alteration in soil chemistry does not require large additions of biosolids.

Results show that metals in biosolids-amended soils are retained at a higher rate than soils without biosolids amendments, which indicates that some constituent of biosolids is responsible for the elevated sorption/retention capacity of biosolids-amended soils. The image shows the X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) elemental map of Cd for the intact Nu Earth biosolids sample. The XRF map shows that "hotspots" of Fe (concentration gradient of white to black represents high to low count values) are similar to distribution hotspots for the other metals.

Contacts: Kirk Scheckel; James Ryan (EIMS#135366)

Office of Research & Development | National Risk Management Research Laboratory

Spectroscopic Approaches to Defining Cd in Biosolids

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