The findings from a thorough 1-year field study conducted by our PhD student Šárka Lewandowská et al. were published in Science of the Total Environment (IF = 8.2). The study compared the effectiveness of sulfidized nanoscale zerovalent iron (S-nZVI) and microscale iron grit for metal(loid) immobilization in two contrasting metal(loid) enriched soils polluted by past smelting activities. Results showed that no significant differences between S-nZVI and iron grit were observed for metal(loid) immobilization. However, the addition of thermally stabilized sewage sludge improved the performance of S-nZVI in terms of soil health indicators. The effects of individual amendments can be attributed to the base soil characteristics (e.g., pH, soil organic matter). Therefore, the choice of an appropriate Fe-based material used for soil remediation should primarily depend on soil properties and site-specific conditions.
Lewandowská Š., Vaňková Z., Beesley L., Cajthaml T., Wickramasinghe N., Vojar J., Vítková M., Tsang D.C.W., Ndungu K., Komárek M., 2024. Nano zerovalent Fe did not reduce metal(loid) leaching and ecotoxicity further than conventional Fe grit in contrasting smelter impacted soils: A 1-year field study. Science of the Total Environment 927, 171892. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171892
Read the paper here.