Reactions Controlling Heavy Metal Solubility in Soils

Soil chemists have long-recognized that knowledge of the elemental composition of soils is generally of little use in assessing the availability of these elements to plants. An obvious illustration of this principle is the common occurrence of Fe and Mn deficiency in plants despite the relatively high levels of Fe and Mn in many soils. For this reason, chemical soil tests have relied on measurement of extractable or “labile” fractions of elements. Such tests are empirical and provide little basis to relate metal extractability to the chemical forms of the metal in the soil. As soils are increasingly used in our society for purposes other than agriculture, the frequency and extent of soil contamination by toxic metals will increase. Empirical relationships may have to be replaced by a more fundamental understanding of the soil processes controlling metal solubility to prevent practices that could have deleterious effects on soil productivity and environmental quality.