Evaluation of soil microbial toxicity of waste foundry sand for soil-related reuse

The relationship between the chemical contaminants and soil microbial toxicity of waste foundry sand (WFS) was investigated. Five different types of WFS from typical ferrous, aluminum, and steel foundries in China were examined for total metals, leachable metals, and organic contaminants. The soil microbial toxicity of each WFS was evaluated by measuring the dehydrogenase activity (DHA) of a blended soil and WFS mixture and then comparing it to that of unblended soil. The results show that the five WFSs had very different compositions of metal and organic contaminants and thus exhibited very different levels of soil microbial inhibition when blended with soil. For a given WFS blended with soil in the range of 10 wt.%–50 wt.% WFS, the DHA decreased almost linearly with increased blending ratio. Furthermore, for a given blending ratio, the WFSs with higher concentrations of metal and organic contaminants exhibited greater microbial toxicity. Correlation analysis shows that the relationship between ecotoxicity and metal and organic contaminants of WFSs can be described by an empirical logarithmic linear model. This model may be used to control WFS blending ratios in soil-related applications based on chemical analysis results to prevent significant inhibition of soil microbial activity.