Lead pollution of shooting range soils

Nicholas Sehube, Rosemary Kelebemang, Otlogetswe Totolo, Masego Laetsang, Obed Kamwi, Pogisego Dinake

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A total of eight military shooting ranges were used for this study. Soil samples were collected at each of the eight shooting ranges at the berm, target line, 50 and 100 m from berm. In all of the shooting ranges investigated the highest total lead (Pb) concentrations were found in the berm soils. Elevated Pb concentrations of 38 406.87 mg kg-1 were found in the berm soils of TAB shooting range. Most of the shooting range soils contained high levels of Pb in the range above 2000 mg kg-1 far exceeding the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) critical value of 400 mg kg-1. The predominant weathering products in these shooting ranges were cerussite (PbCO3) and hydrocerussite (Pb3(CO3)2(OH)2). The Synthetic Precipitation Leaching Procedure (SPLP) Pb concentrations exceeded the USEPA 0.015 mg kg-1 critical level of hazardous waste indicating possible contamination of surface and groundwater.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)21-28
Number of pages8
JournalSouth African Journal of Chemistry
Volume70
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Chemistry

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