The accumulation of heavy metals in soil is a serious environmental problem. The risk of metals in soil is associated critically with their species. Operationally determined speciation analysis of Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sb, Cd and Pb was carried out in the area of non-ferrous metals-smelting in the North China Plain, using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy after sequential chemical extraction. The average potential mobility fraction was calculated. The average potential mobility of the metals had the following order: Cd(44.7%) > Pb(29.6%) > Mn(14.8%) > Zn(12.5%) > Cu(5.9%) > Sb(5.0%) > Ni(2.1%) > Cr(0.8%). It is concluded that there is a distinct spatial heterogeneity in the concentration of heavy metals in the studied area.The results indicate that the polluting heavy metals, in particular Cd and Pb, have high potential mobility.

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This paper aims to study the feasibility of low cement content foamed concrete using waste lime mud (LM) and fly ash (FA) as mineral additives. The LM/FA ratio was first optimized based on the compressive strength. Isothermal calorimetry test, ESEM, and XRD were used to investigate the role of LM during hydration. Afterward, the optimized LM/FA ratio (1/5) was used to design foamed concrete with various wet densities (600, 700, 800 and 900 kg/m3) and LM–FA dosages (0%, 50%, 60%, 70% and 80%). Flowability measurements and mechanical measurements including compressive strength, flexural strength, splitting strength, elastic modulus, and California bearing ratio were conducted. The results show that the foamed concretes have excellent workability and stability with flowability within 170 and 190 mm. The high alkalinity of LM accelerated the hydration of FA, thereby increasing the early strength. The significant power functions were fitted for the relationships between flexural/splitting and compressive strength with all correlation coefficients (R2) larger with 0.95. The mechanical properties of the foamed concrete increased with the density increasing or LM–FA dosage decreasing. The compressive strength, tensile strength, CBR of all prepared foamed concretes were higher than the minimum requirements of 0.8 and 0.15 MPa and 8%, respectively in the standard.

Sediment is a principal reservoir which accumulates and releases the pollutants. It is an important way of nutrients releasing from pore water of sediments to overlying water across the sediment-water interface. Five sampling sites were selected in the Hengshui Lake. Overlying water and sediments were collected in each of them. The phosphorus fractions and their relationships were analyzed. The results showed that the change of the total phosphorus (TP) in sediment was similar to that of the total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) and soluble orthophosphate (PO 4 3-) in pore water. The concentrations of PO 4 3-in pore water were higher than those in overlying water, reflecting a possible diffuse trend for PO 4 3--P in the five zones of Hengshui Lake. It is indicated that phosphorus and other nutrients will be transferred from sediment to pore water and then to overlying water, which can lead to lake eutrophication.