Data from laboratory column studies of movement of selected metals in Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) leachate through soils from several parts of the U.S. were used as a base for developing simple field-oriented tools for predicting pollutant movement. The metals studied were arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, mercury, nickel, lead, selenium, vanadium and zinc. Principal variables in the laboratory study and in the models were (a) soil physical/chemical properties such as clay content, pH, and iron/manganese hydrousoxide content, and, (b) leachate properties such as total organic carbon (TOC) and total salts. The first model was based on the Lapidus and Amundson (L-A) equation. A simpler, more adaptable model based on the Error Function equation was developed and tested. Predictions for rates of metal movement through soil in municipal solid waste leachates were equally effective by either model but the L-A method of developing the model was somewhat more difficult. Movement rates and soil and leachate characteristics that influences rates were identified; the results have not been incorporated into the model.

Caption title. Shipping list no.: 90-095-P. "Jan. 1990." Includes bibliographical references (page 4). "EPA/600/M-89/023."