Development of novel biosorbents for the treatment of heavy metal loid s contaminated water

Abstract

Water is a precious component which has significant impacts on various forms of life on earth. Uncontrolled and indiscriminate pollution of water resources is a challenging problem throughout the world, since a massive amount of pollutant containing wastes is generating by various anthropogenic activities and geogenic reasons. Population explosion, industrialization, urbanization, agricultural activities, etc. are the major reasons for generating massive numbers of various pollutants (such as - heavy metal(loid)s, pesticides, radioactive substances, dyes, endocrine disrupting compounds, hazardous pharmaceutical and personal care products, hazardous biomedical substances, etc.) containing wastes during last few decades. Heavy metal(loid)s [such as - cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), cupper (Cu), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), etc.] are the well-known non-biodegradable hazardous persistent pollutants and are also the important constituents among the hazardous pollutants commonly present in various industrial effluents (such as - metal fabrication, fertilizers, paper and pulp, pesticides, smelting, spillage of petrochemicals, alloy manufacturing, coal mining, paint preparation, mine tailings, galvanizing, leaded gasoline, printing, sewage sludge and ceramics manufacturing industries). Awful consequences of tremendous environmental pollution of heavy metal(loid)s are the deterioration of the water resources (both surface and underground) on the earth, which results in the devastation of various forms of life and life supporting environmental conditions on the earth. Additionally, heavy metal(loid)s poisoning through environmental pollution is responsible for causing various human health hazards. newlineTherefore, removal of heavy metal(loid)s from the water/wastewater/aquatic environments is a major concern. Various advanced and improved technologies such as -membrane filtration, chemical coagulation, ion exchange, electro deposition, chemical precipitation, electrochemical techniques, etc. have been developed