Assessing environmental impacts in using waste steel slags as construction materials in a highly industrialized area

Authors

  • Maria Michela Dell’Anna DICATECh, Politecnico di Bari, via Orabona, 4 I-70125 Bari, Italy
  • Giuseppe Romanazzi DICATECh, Politecnico di Bari, via Orabona, 4 I-70125 Bari, Italy
  • Mariangela Positano DICATECh, Politecnico di Bari, via Orabona, 4 I-70125 Bari, Italy
  • Vito Specchio SOGESID S.p.A, Via Calabria 35, 00187 Roma, Italy
  • Piero Mastrorilli DICATECh, Politecnico di Bari, via Orabona, 4 I-70125 Bari, Italy
  • Giuseppe Tomasicchio Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, EcoTekne Center P. S.P. 6, Lecce - Italy
  • Leonardo Damiani DICATECh, Politecnico di Bari, via Orabona, 4 I-70125 Bari, Italy
  • Matilda Mali DICATECh, Politecnico di Bari, via Orabona, 4 I-70125 Bari, Italy

Keywords:

leaching metals, groundwater contamination, multivariate analyses

Abstract

Steel slags are side products of iron and steel industry and are suitable for a variety of applications. In the present paper, the assessment of the hazard associated with steel slags used as harbor piers backfilling material was performed. The analyses were conducted on 64 samples (soil and groundwater) collected in 17 sites located in one of the piers of Taranto city (South Italy), a highly industrialized area, where steel slags have been used in the past as backfill material. The obtained data were compared to the national threshold levels and International Indexes (Igeo) for assessing anthropogenic impacts. The first comparative analysis revealed that only vanadium in soil and aluminum in groundwater, associated with high pH values in both matrixes (soil and groundwater) resulted of high concern. Nevertheless, Igeo values and the coupling of comparative analysis with multivariate techniques Principal component analysis and Hierarchical Cluster Analyses revealed that also Sb, Pb, Cr and Zn concentration have an extremely high hazard degree. All analyses confirm the impact of steel slags on contaminant leaching processes due to the strong alkaline nature of their leachates and the presence of strong relationship between metal mobility and other physical-chemical parameters related to the peculiar environmental context. These findings suggest that the use of such materials, albeit economically recommended, should be adopted under severe monitoring of all parameters that could promote the mobility of metals and other contaminants.

References

Alfarrah N., Walraevens K., Groundwater Overexploitation and Seawater Intrusion in Coastal Areas of Arid and Semi-Arid Regions. Water. Water 2018, 10, 143 doi:10.3390/w10020143

Anderson, D.L. 1991. Soil and leaf nutrient interactions following application of calcium silicate slag to sugarcane. Fert. Res. 30(1): 9–18.

Baciocchi R, Costa G, Polettini A, Pomi R (2015) Effects of thin-film accelerated carbonation on steel slag leaching. J Hazard Mater 286:369–378. doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.12.059

Barca C, Gérente C, Meyer D, Chazarenc F, Andrès Y., 2012. Phosphate removal from synthetic and real wastewater using steel slags produced in Europe. Water Res 46(7):2376–2384. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2012.02.012

Bowden L.I., Jarvis A.P., Younger P.L., Younger K.L., Johnson K.L. 2009. Phosphorus Removal from Waste Waters Using Basic Oxygen Steel Slag. Environmental Science and Technology 43(7):2476–81; doi:10.1021/es801626d

D.M. 5/2/98. Decreto Ministeriale per l'Individuazione dei rifiuti non pericolosi sottoposti alle procedure semplificate di recupero ai sensi degli articoli 31 e 33 del decreto legislativo 5 febbraio 1997, n. 22. Art.9. Test di cessione.

D.Lgs. (Legislative Decree) 152/2006 - Testo Unico Ambientale

Decree n. 38/15. Progetto Esecutivo dei lavori di "Riqualificazione della banchina e dei piazzali in radice del molo Polisettoriale - Adeguamento areo Terminai Rinfuse" approvato con Decreto n.38 on 20.04.2015.

EU Directive 2008/98/EC (Waste Framework Directive); Commission Regulation (EU) No. 2017/997; Commission Regulation (EU) No 1357/2014 replacing Annex III to Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament.

Gahan C.S., Cunha M., Sandstrom A. 2009. Comparative study on different steel slags as neutralising agent in bioleaching. Hydrometallurgy. 95 (3–4), 190–197.

Gómez-Nubla., L., Aramendia, J., Fdez-Ortiz de Vallejuelo S., Madariagaa J.M. 2018a. Contamination study of forest track soils located in a recreational area and filled with steel industry waste 30 years ago. Science of The Total Environment 598, 28–37.

Gómez-Nubla., L., Aramendia, J., Fdez-Ortiz de Vallejuelo S., Madariagaa J.M. 2018b. Metallurgical residues reused as filler after 35 years and their natural weathering implications in a mountain area. Science of The Total Environment 618, 39–47.

Lekshmi S. and Mophin Kani Kani. 2017. Assessment of Seawater Intrusion using Chemical Indicators. International Journal of Engineering and Advanced Technology (IJEAT). ISSN: 2249-8958, Vol. 7, Issue - ICMSC17 Dec2017.

Long, E.R., MacDonald, D.D., Smith, S.L. and Calder, ED., 1995. Incidence of adverse biological effects within ranges of chemical concentrations in marine and estuarine sediments. Environ. Manage. 19, 81–97.

Malcangio, D., Melena, A., Damiani, L., Mali, M., Saponieri, A. 2017. Numerical study of water quality improvement in a port through a forced mixing system. WIT Trans. Ecol. Environ. 220, pp. 69–80.

Mali, M., Dell’Anna, M.M., Mastrorilli, P., Damiani, L., Ungaro, N., Belviso, C., Fiore, S., 2015. Are conventional statistical techniques exhaustive for defining metal background concentrations in harbor sediments? A case study: the Coastal Area of Bari (Southeast Italy). Chemosphere 138, 708–717. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.07.046

Mali, M., Notarnicola, M. Dell’Anna, M.M., Mastrorilli, P., Damiani, L., 2017. Combining chemometric tools for assessing hazard sources and factors acting simultaneously in contaminated areas. Case study: “Mar Piccolo” Taranto (South Italy). Chemosphere, 184, 784–794. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.06.028

Mali, M., Malcangio, D., Dell’Anna, M.M., Damiani, L., Mastrorilli, P., 2018. Influence of hydrodynamic features in the transport and fate of hazard contaminants within touristic ports. Case study: Torre a Mare (Italy) Heliyon Vol. 4(1) e00494. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2017.e00494

Muller, G, 1979. Schwermetallen in den Redimen desrheins. Umschan., 79, 778–7832.

Relazione Tecnica illustrativa: Piano di caratterizzazione -Area Terminal Rinfuse- Progetto esecutivo di riqualificazione della banchina e dei piazzali in radice del Molo Polisettoriale del 29/02/2016

Roadcap G.S., Sanford A.S., Jin, Q., Pardinas, J.R. and Bethke C.M., 2006. Extremely Alkaline (pH > 12) Ground Water Hosts Diverse Microbial Community. Ground Water. 44 (4), 511–517. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6584.2006.00199.x

Rondi L., Bregoli G. Sorlini S., Comnoli L. Collivignarelli C. Plizzari G. 2016. Concrete with EAF steel slag as aggregate: A comprehensive technical and environmental characterization. Composites Part B: Engineering 90, 195–202.

Turekian, K.K., Wedepohl, K.H., 1961. Distribution of the elements in some major units of the earth’s crust. Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer. 72, 175–192. doi:10.1130/0016-7606(1961)72;175:DOTEIS = 2.0.CO;2

Wang Q, Yang JW, Yan PY. 2012. Influence of initial alkalinity on the hydration of steel slag. Sci China Tech Sci. 5:3378–3387. doi:10.1007/s11431-012-4830-9

Downloads

Published

2020-10-01

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 4 (2020): Coastal zone management and adaptation under climate change: Integrating ecology and engineering

Section

Research article

License

Manuscripts must be original. They must not be published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. It is required that the lead author of accepted papers complete and sign the MSU Press AEHM Author Publishing Agreement and provide it to the publisher upon acceptance.