Remediation of Pb-contaminated soils by washing with hydrochloric acid and subsequent immobilization with calcite and allophanic soil.

Removal of heavy metals from contaminated soil is not popular because of its high cost. Reducing the bioaccessible heavy metals content to an allowable level by washing with inorganic acids and subsequent immobilization of remained metals may be a low cost option for soil remediation. The applicability of this combined treatment was investigated using three different types of soil, a kaolinitic, a smectitic and an allophanic soil, which were artificially contaminated with Pb.