An experimental study on the use of natural zeolite for Cu, Pb and Zn immobilizatio n in soil

An experiment of the immobilization of heavy metals Cu, Pb and Zn in soil by means of natural zeolite was performed in the laboratory. The natural zeolite employed was from a deposit near the village of Sokyrnytsia in the Ukrainian Transcarpathian region. Sandy soil was contaminated by Cu2+, Pb2+ and Zn2+ nitrates at three contamination levels, 50, 100 and 500 mg/kg of each metal. Sandy soil samples contaminated with three different concentrations of three metal solutions were mixed with 5%, 10% and 20% of zeolite. 200 ml of distilled water was added to each plastic container with soil and zeolite mixtures and left for 1 month. After one month sandy soil samples of 0.5 g from each plastic container were analysed by ICP-OES. Zeolite immobilised metals in the order: Pb2+ > Zn2+ > Cu2+.