IMPACTS OF ROAD DE-ICING SALTS ON MANGANESE TRANSPORT TO GROUNDWATER IN ROADSIDE SOILS

Sammanfattning: Manganese (Mn) is an important element in soil, it occur natural in minerals and precipitated as Mn-oxides. Several factors could decide the solubility and mobility of Mn in soil water. In this study, the impact of road de-icing salts (NaCl) on manganese mobilization and transport to groundwater in roadside soils has been investigated by leaching tests. Generally, in the salt solution leachates, the water-soluble concentrations of Mn tended to increase with elevated salt concentrations, suggesting that ion exchange mainly affected the mobilization. The process was also attributed to the complexion with Cl. Associated with exchangeable concentration of Mn and soil properties such as pH and acidity, the mobilizations of Mn varied. Mn-oxides can dissolve when reduced condition exists, therefore the oxalate extractable Mn was extracted to estimate the change of redox potential condition in roadside soils. The redox potential of soil samples is higher in general. Redox condition has little effect on the Mn solubility and mobility in this research. Although groundwater samples indicated that only a few periods and sites were under threaten of elevated concentrations of manganese, there is still great risk of transport of high water-soluble concentrations of Mn in roadside soils to groundwater, especially the areas exposed to de-icing salts. In addition, lower value of Mn concentrations in groundwater for considering good drinking water quality for the well-being of children should be paid more attention to.