• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.20 no.7
• /
• pp.103-111
• /
• 2015

Soil washing with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is highly effective in the remediation of soils contaminated with heavy metals. The EDTA recycling process is a requisite for reducing the operating cost. The applicability of Na₂S addition on the precipitation of heavy metals from the spent soil washing solution and thereby recycling of EDTA was investigated. Addition of Na₂S into the single metal-EDTA and the mixed metal-EDTA solutions ([Na₂S]/[metal-EDTA] ratio = 30, reaction time = 30 min and pH = 7~9) was highly effective in the separation of Cu and Pb from metal-EDTA complexes, but not for Ni. The Zn removal efficiency varied with pH and slightly increased upto 40% as the reaction time increased from 0 to 240 min which was longer than those for Cu and Pb. Ca(OH)₂ was subsequently added to induce further precipitation of Zn and Ni and to reduce the Na₂S dose. At the [Na₂S]/[metal-EDTA] ratio of 10, the removal efficiencies of all heavy metals excluding Ni were above 98% with the dose of Ca(OH)₂ at 0.002, 0.006 and 0.008 g into 100 mL of Cu-, Pb- and Zn-EDTA solutions, respectively. However, Ca(OH)₂ addition was not effective for Ni-EDTA solution. A further research is needed to improve metal removal efficiency and subsequent EDTA recycling for the real application in field-contaminated soils.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.57 no.3
• /
• pp.316-321
• /
• 2013

Electrocoagulation (EC) technique is applied for the treatment of wastewater containing heavy metals ions such as nickle (Ni), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) by using sacrificial anodes corrode to release active coagulant flocs usually aluminium or iron cations into the solution. During electrolytic reactions hydrogen gas evolve at the cathode. All the experiments were carried out in Batch mode. The tank was filled with synthetic wastewater containing heavy metals and efficiency of electro-coagulation in combination with aluminum and iron electrodes were investigated for removal of such metals. Several parameters, such as contact time, pH, electro-coagulant concentration, and current density were optimized to achieve maximum removal efficiency (%). The concentrations of heavy metals were determined by using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). It is found that the electro-coagulation process has potential to be utilized for the cost-effective removal of heavy metals from wastewater specially using iron electrodes in terms of high removal efficiencies and operating cost.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.165-172
• /
• 2008

To find the optimum growth and metal removal condition of isolated strain LH2, effects of the environmental factors such as medium pH, growth temperature, and metal concentrations were investigated. Based on the 18S rDNA analysis, the isolated strain was identified to Exophiala sp. with 100% homology. Isolated strain Exophiala sp. LH2 showed maximum removal efficiency of metals at the shaking conditions of pH 7 and $25^{\circ}C$. When the concentration of metal was under 200ppm, the specific metal removal velocity at pH 7 increased from 0.01 to 4.43 mg-metal $L^{-1}{\cdot}d^{-1}{\cdot}mg{\cdot}DCW^{-1}$ as the concentration of metal increased from 10 ppm to 200 ppm. When 200 ppm of each metal was contained in the culture medium adjusted with pH 7, metal removal efficiencies Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn were 99.28%, 97.67%, 91.94%, 99.77%, 99.61%, respectively.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.612-623
• /
• 2020

This study was initiated to quantitatively evaluate the inhibitory effects of five heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb, Ni) on bacterial growth and phosphorus removal in the binary culture of Alcaligenes sp. plus Pseudomonas sp. IC50 values of Alcaligenes sp. plus Pseudomonas sp. for Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb, and Ni were 0.75, 10.93, 7.08, 13.30, and 15.78 mg/L, respectively. For the binary treatments of heavy metals, IC50 was the lowest in the treatment of Cd + Cu, whereas, it was the highest in the Ni + Pb treatment. The EC50 values for Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb, and Ni were 0.54, 11.08, 6.14, 9.33, and 13.81 mg/L, respectively. For the binary treatments of heavy metals, EC50 was the lowest in the Cd + Zn, whereas, the highest in the Zn + Ni. Based on both IC50 and EC50 values for the binary culture of bacteria with the binary mixtures of heavy metals, the most interactive effect was found to be antagonistic, though the only synergistic effect was found in Cu + Ni treatment. Therefore, our results can provide basic data on the toxic effects of heavy metals on the bacterial growth and phosphorus removal in the wastewater treatment process.

• Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.258-265
• /
• 2020

Heavy metal removal by using porous mineral adsorbents bears a great potential to decontaminate sludge compost, and natural zeolite (NZ), artificial zeolite (AZ), and expanded perlite (EP) seem to be possible candidates for this purpose. A composting experiment was conducted to compare the efficiency of those adsorbents for removal of iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), and lead (Pb) from sewage sludge compost with no adsorbent amendment. For this purpose, 10 g of NZ and AZ and 5 g of EP was filled in a small bag made from non-biodegradable synthetic textile and was separately mixed in composting piles. The bags were separated from compost samples at the end of the experiment. AZ and NZ exhibited different reduction potentials depending on the type of heavy metal. AZ significantly reduced Cr (43.7%), Mn (35.8%), and Fe (29.9%), while NZ more efficiently reduced Cu (24.5%), Ni (22.2%), Zn (22.1%), and Pb (21.2%). The removal efficiency of EP was smaller than both AZ and NZ. The results of this simultaneous composting and metal removing study suggest that AZ and NZ can efficiently bind metal during composting process.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.122-129
• /
• 2002

The removal rate of heavy metals from the wastewater, the accumulation and translocation of heavy metals in plants after transplanting, and the responses of water celery growth with different wastewater treatments were investigated to determine the potential ability of green-remediation with hydroponic culture of water celery. The removal rate and translocation of Cd, Cu, Ni and Pb from different wastewater to plants were compared with cultivation periods after transplanting. The removal rate of heavy metals from wastewater was different with each treatment but increased with growing periods of water celery plants. The removal rate of Cd, Cu, Ni and Pb in Artificial solution, Artificial solution+EDTA, Munmark industrical wastewater, Jungsun minewater is ranged from 22 to 73%, from 28 to 100%, from 13 to 92% and from 41 to 100% at 6 days after transplanting, respectively. The translocations of Cd, Cu, Ni and Pb from roots to shoots in Artificial solution, Artificial solution+EDTA, Munmark industrical wastewater, Jungsun minewater are ranged from 14 to 28%. 8 to 30%. from 28 to 45% and from 2 to 15% at 12 days after transplanting, respectively. In plant growth responses, it appears to be inhibited the plant growth over all treatments excepts for Munmark industrial wastewater in these glowing periods. Therefore the water celery might play a useful role in phytoremediation to clean up wastewater contaminated with Cd, Cu, Ni or Pb.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.277-284
• /
• 2012

This study developed a new ceramics in which natural zeolite was mixed and calcined with industrial by-product such as converter slag, red mud, and fly ash and evaluated the feasibility of the ceramics for removal of heavy metals in acid wastewater. The removal rate of heavy metal by ceramics increased in the order of ZS (zeolite and slag) > ZR (zeolite and red mud) > ZF (zeolite and fly ash) ceramics. The alkalinity increment and coherence of ceramics were increased in the order of ZS > ZR > ZF ceramics. The mixing ratio of natural zeolite to industrial by-product for maximum removal efficiency of heavy metal was 1:1 for ZS ceramics and 1:3 for ZR and ZF ceramics. The order of removal efficiency of heavy metal was observed to be ZS > ZR > ZF ceramics under the mixing ratio of 1:1 for ZS ceramics and 1:3 for ZR and ZF ceramics. The removal efficiency of heavy metal by ZS ceramics with 1:1 mixing ratio was Al 100%, Cd 54.6%, Cr 99.9%, Cu 98.7%, Fe 99.9%, Mn 42.2%, Ni 59.9%, Pb 99.8%, Zn 87.6%, respectively. In addition, the removal capacity of heavy metal by ZS ceramics was observed to be Al 2.01 mM/g, Cd 0.27 mM/g, Cr 1.02 mM/g, Cu 0.83 mM/g, Fe 0.95 mM/g, Mn 0.41 mM/g, Ni 0.55 mM/g, Pb 0.25 mM/g, Zn 0.70 mM/g, respectively. The comparative evaluation in the light of removal capacity, alkalinity increment, and coherence of ceramics showed the ZS ceramics had higher feasibility as a media than others for removal of heavy metals in acid wastewater.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.49 no.4
• /
• pp.475-479
• /
• 2011

Chitosan is a natural polymer that has many physicochemical(polycationic, reactive OH and $NH_2$ groups) and biological(bioactive, biocompatible, and biodegradable) properties. In this study, chitosan nanoparticles were prepared using poly-${\gamma}$-glutamic acid(${\gamma}$-PGA) as gelling agent. Nanoparticles were formed by ionic interaction between carboxylic groups in ${\gamma}$-PGA and amino groups in chitosan. Chitosan(0.1~1 g) was dissolved in 100 ml of acetic acid (1% v/v) at room temperature and stirred overnight to ensure a complete solubility. An amount of 0.1 g of ${\gamma}$-PGA was dissolved in 90 ml of distilled water at room temperature. Chitosan solution was dropped through needle into beaker containing ${\gamma}$-PGA solution under gentle stirring at room temperature. The average particle sizes were in the range of 80~300 nm. The prepared chitosan/${\gamma}$-PGA nanoparticles were used to examine their removal of several heavy metal ions($Cd^{2+}$, $Pb^{2+}$, $Zn^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, and $Ni^{2+}$) as adsorbents in aqueous solution. The heavy metal removal capacity of the nanoparticles was in the order of $Cu^{2+}$ > $Pb^{2+}$ > $Cd^{2+}$ > $Ni^{2+}$ > $Zn^{2+}$.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.203-210
• /
• 2016

In this study, nine heavy metals were analyzed in seaweeds collected from market and laver culture farm of Korea and a food safety assessment were also carried out for these heavy metals. The level of heavy metal concentrations in seaweeds was in the following order: Fe>As>Zn>Cu>Cd>Pb>Cr>Ni>Hg. Except for zinc and cadmium, seven heavy metals were significantly higher in cultured laver than in processed laver. Significant correlation was observed Cr-Fe in cultured laver and Cu-Zn, Cd-Cu, Cd-Zn and Pb-Ni in processed laver and Cu-Cr, Cu-Zn, Cd-Cr and Ni-Fe in sea tangle and Zn-Fe, Cr-Fe, Cr-Zn, Cd-Ni, Cu-Cd and Cu-Pb in processed sea mustard. Considering differences in heavy metal concentration between processed laver and cultured laver and in correlation among heavy metals, removal efficiency of heavy metals may be attributed to seaweed treatment process. The average weekly intakes of Cu, Cd, Zn, Fe and Hg via seaweeds consumption were about 0.1~7.6% of PTWI (Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intakes). Therefore, it was found that heavy metals in the seaweeds were very safe for consumption.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.252-271
• /
• 2020

In this study, we investigated physical and chemical properties such as grain size, heavy metal pollution, magnetic properties, and their environmental impacts of road dusts (RD) collected from 14 sampling points in Daebul industrial Complex. Heavy metal concentrations in RD were in the order of Fe>Zn>Cu>Pb>Cr>Ni>As>Cd>Hg, and this pollution pattern was related to major industries and traffic activities in this area. The results of the correlation analysis between heavy metal elements and particle size in RD showed that Fe and all of analyzed heavy metals had a significant correlation with each other and metal concentrations had a significantly negative correlation (p<0.05). However, due to the input of large metal particles some heavy metal concentrations in the particle fraction of >1000 ㎛ were highest. Pollution load per unit area of this fraction was the highest among the grain size fractions. Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb levels in RD decreased and the levels of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb were reduced to 85 (As) -22 (Ni)% of the whole after removal of MFs fraction from RD. The mean heavy metal levels in the study area did not exceed the soil contamination guide value of Korea, indicating that heavy metal levels in RD were not a concern. However, at some sampling points, Zn concentrations were exceeded the soil contamination guide value for the 3rd areas of Korea and this result indicated that further studies of the impact of RD on the surrounding environment through re-suspension or non-point pollution, and of effective management methods are required.