Contaminants in waste foundry sand and its leachate. (21st July 2009)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Deng, An
• Is Part Of: International journal of environment and pollution. Volume 38:Number 4(2009)
• Page Start: 425
• Page End: 443
• Publication Date: 2009-07-21
• Subjects: contaminants -- dry weight -- environmental characteristics -- leachates -- leaching protocols -- mean -- median -- metallic chemicals -- non-metallic chemicals -- organic chemicals -- toxicity -- WFS -- waste foundry sands -- solid waste; Environmental policy -- Periodicals; Environmental engineering -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Periodicals; 363.73
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0957-4352

Abstract

The environmental characteristics of Waste Foundry Sands (WFS), including chemicals in WFS and its leachate, are essential in understanding the environmental impact, rational disposal and potential development of beneficial applications of this solid industrial waste. This paper presents an assessment of broad-spectrum chemicals (metallic, non-metallic and organic chemicals) in aspects of their statistics (mean, median and the 95th percentile) in dry-weight WFS and WFS leachates based on laboratory measurements of 594 WFS samples from 123 foundry facilities in the USA. Results indicate that WFS is basically not hazardous except a risk associated with WFS from copper-based foundry facilities. Leachability of metallic chemicals varies among investigated WFS. A clear delineation between different leaching protocols is implicated.