Article

Heavy metal toxicity, sources, and remediation techniques for contaminated water and soil

Shams Forruque AhmedScience and Math Program, Asian University for Women, Chattogram 4000, BangladeshP. Senthil KumarDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering, Chennai 603110, IndiaMahtabin Rodela RozbuDepartment of Computational Biology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USAAnika Tasnim ChowdhuryScience and Math Program, Asian University for Women, Chattogram 4000, BangladeshSamiha NuzhatScience and Math Program, Asian University for Women, Chattogram 4000, BangladeshNazifa RafaDepartment of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, Trinity Ln, Cambridge CB2 1TN, UKT.M.I. MahliaCentre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, AustraliaHwai Chyuan OngFuture Technology Research Center, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, 123 University Road, Section 3, Douliou, Yunlin 64002, TaiwanM. MofijurCentre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia

2021en

ABI

Abstract

Arsenic is a highly toxic metalloid that is extensively distributed in soils and water bodies, resulting in a variety of toxicity mechanisms and harmful effects on humans and environmental health. This paper comprehensively reviews the technological development in arsenic (As) removal from wastewater and contaminated soil, and provides insights into the challenges in effective arsenic removal from the environmental compartments. The arsenic removal efficiency of the available technologies is also discussed in terms of their principle of operation, efficiency, advantages, and shortcomings. Many of the existing technologies are not found economically feasible for the regions of interest or are not applicable at the community level. Some of the techniques are often responsible for producing toxic by-products. Overall, the adsorption technique demonstrated high efficiency of almost 100% and a maximum of 95% in removing arsenic from water and soil, respectively. Novel methods such as the application of nanotechnology and polymeric ligand exchangers have also been gaining traction but also seem to possess limitations similar to conventional and non-conventional techniques.

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1016/j.eti.2021.102114

Citations and references

Cited by 20 references

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