Pollution Research Paper

CHARACTERISTICS OF LEAD-SOIL CONTAMINATION IN CINANGKA, BOGOR INDONESIA AND DESIGNING SUITABLE BIOCHAR FOR ITS REMEDIATION

HIMAWAN, PRABANG SETYONO, SUNTORO SUNTORO AND SENTOT BUDI RAHARDJO

Abstract

Lead pollution of soil is a serious global problem due to risk of entering food chain and groundwater contamination. Anthropogenic activities such as mining, smelting, agriculture, and industry have played an important source of Pb in soil. Heavy metal is non-biodegradable and persists for long time in natural environment. Cinangka Village is a Pb-polluted area impacted from the processing of used lead-batteries since 1978. Although serious efforts of international and Indonesian government had been conducted in 2014, the remediation has not yet been completed because of insufficient resources. Therefore, it needs periodical monitoring and sustainable remediation. Biochar is a potential ubiquitous low-cost material for heavy metal-polluted soil remediation whose properties depend on its production conditions. This research aimed to study the condition of lead pollution in soil and groundwater in the former battery recycling and residential areas in Cinangka Bogor. Specifically, the study was focused on Pb profile on the soil horizon top soil, Pb groundwater level, its environmental risk assessment, and designing suitable biochar for lead immobilization. The total, fractions concentration, and leachability of Pb phytotoxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) were performed with AAS. The results showed that the soil in the former recycling center was acidic and contained Pb above 11,000 ppm which was dominated by reducible fraction (F2) and acid-soluble fraction (F1) having extreme contamination degree and very high environmental risk. Vertically until 45 cm depth, the deeper the soil layer the lower the Pb content. On the contrary, soil and groundwater in residential areas did not show any lead contamination. Biochar derived from mineral-rich material pyrolyzed at lower temperature is recommended to remediate the contaminated site.