Iranian Journal of

Background and Objective:Application of compost containing heavy metals can increase the concentration of metals in soil and groundwater. Therefore,the aim of this study was to investigate leaching lead, chromium,and cadmium from three soils (a sandy loam, a sandy clay loam and silt clay loam) amended with compost from the municipal solid waste. Material andMethod:First, the selected soils were repacked into columns (with an inner diameter of 100mm and a height of 600mm). Treatments included(a) low metal content compost (LMCC), (b) enriched metal content compost (EMCC) and (c) control. Then soil columns were incubated at room temperature for 9 days and were irrigated daily with deionized water to make a total of a 250 mm. Leachates were collected and analyzed for pH, EC, Pb, Cr, and Cd concentration. Results: It was found that the application ofEMCCwas significant (p≤0/05) on reducing pH, increasing electrical conductivity and leakage of metalscompared withcontrolin all three soils. But application of LMCC was not significant (p≥0/05) on the metals leaching compared withcontrolin all three soils. The overall quantities of metals leached followed the sandy loam> sandy clay loam> silt clay loam. Conclusion: The concentration of metals in the leachates depended on the soil characteristics and on the type of compost added to the soil. Therefore,application of enriched metal content compost on the soils containinga high percentage ofsandmay pose a risk in terms of groundwater contamination with heavy metals.