Infiltration behavior of heavy metals in runoff through soil amended with biochar as bulking agent

Biochar as a porous carbon material could be used for improving soil physical and chemical properties, while insufficient attention has been paid to potential risks induced by infiltration of heavy metals in the runoff water flowing through biochar-amended soil. Four different soil-biochar matrices with same volumes were constructed including soil alone (M1), biochar alone (M2), soil-biochar layering (M3) and soil-biochar mixing (M4). Leaching experiments were conducted with Pb, Cu, and Zn contaminated runoff water. Results showed that biochar amendment greatly improved the water permeation, and the infiltration rates in M2, M3, and M4 were 2.85–23.0 mm min⁻¹, being much higher than those in M1 (1.33–4.05 mm min⁻¹), though the rates decreased as the leaching volumes increased. However, biochar induced more Pb, Cu, and Zn infiltrated through soil-biochar matrix. After 350-L leaching, M1 retained about 95% Pb, 90% Cu, and 36% Zn, while M2 only retained 4.80% Pb, 17.4% Cu, and 4.01% Zn; about 30% Pb, 80% Cu, and 15% Zn were retained in M3 and M4. Notably, Zn was trapped first and then re-leached into the filtrate, which resulted in a much higher effluent Zn than the influent Zn at the later stage. However, the unit weight of biochar showed a higher capacity for retaining heavy metals compared to per unit of soil. Under the dynamic water flow, all benefits and disadvantages induced by biochar were weakened with its physical disintegration. Biochar as soil amendment can enhance plant growth via ameliorating soil structure, while it would pose risks to environment because of large penetration of heavy metals. If biochar was compacted to form a denser physical structure, perhaps more heavy metals could be retained.