A dynamic leaching method for the assessment of trace metals released from hydraulic binders.

With respect to sustainable development, the leachability of trace metal from solid materials in contact with water has focused much attention over the years. Portland cements produced in industrial kilns generally contain from 10 to 300 mg/kg of trace metals. The behaviour of these endogenous metals has been, in this regard, the target of different leaching studies.

Heavy metal contamination of settling particles in a retention pond along the A-71 motorway in Sologne, France.

A retention pond is a part of a drainage system designed to control water flow during rainstorms and to trap contaminated solid particles washed off by runoff water from a motorway. A series of studies have been carried out concerning the physico-chemical characteristics of the particles which settle down in such a pond in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the pond as a trap for heavy metals such as Pb, Zn and Cd. The highly contaminated roadside soil and the uncontaminated background soil were also studied for comparison.

Chemical behavior of aluminum and phosphorus during dissolution of glass fibers in physiological saline solutions.

The dissolution of textile glass fibers of four different compositions has been investigated at 37 degrees C. In these glasses, which are isolation type, the P2O5 contents scatter between 0 and 2 wt% and Al2O3 from 0.12 to 3.

In vitro assessment of the biopersistence of vitreous fibers: state of the art from the physical-chemical point of view.

Biopersistence is a function of different parameters: low solubility of the vitreous phase in physiological media, good mechanical properties of altered fibers, limited ability of phagocytosis to digest residual fragments. This article emphasizes solubility problems. From studies related to nuclear waste storage and other industrial problems, the mechanisms (formation of a leached layer of variable thickness and structure) and the kinetic laws describing the dissolution of vitreous fibers are now fairly well known.