Comparative studies of different soil remediating techniques for lead contaminated site in Ibadan, Nigeria and its effect on seed germination and crop growth

The health and environmental implications of soil contamination with heavy metals call for an effective technology to achieve a total clean up. Among contaminated soils however, those contaminated with heavy metals are said to be notorious and difficult to remediate. The remediation technologies commonly used are either mobilization to aid their removal from soil through complexation and solubilisation (Bolan et al., 2010), or immobilization to decrease their mobility by reducing the bioavailable fractions in the soil through the use of soil ammendments (Adejumo et al., 2011). However, based on the magnitude of contamination, different remediation technologies are sometimes used together to facilitate the remediation process. In this research work, effectiveness of three different methods (compost-remediation, soil mixing and soil washing) were assessed for remediation and enhancement of crop production on soil contaminated by lead-acid battery wastes. (author)