Review
Removal of heavy metal ions from wastewaters: A review

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Abstract

Heavy metal pollution has become one of the most serious environmental problems today. The treatment of heavy metals is of special concern due to their recalcitrance and persistence in the environment. In recent years, various methods for heavy metal removal from wastewater have been extensively studied. This paper reviews the current methods that have been used to treat heavy metal wastewater and evaluates these techniques. These technologies include chemical precipitation, ion-exchange, adsorption, membrane filtration, coagulation–flocculation, flotation and electrochemical methods. About 185 published studies (1988–2010) are reviewed in this paper. It is evident from the literature survey articles that ion-exchange, adsorption and membrane filtration are the most frequently studied for the treatment of heavy metal wastewater.

Introduction

Heavy metals are elements having atomic weights between 63.5 and 200.6, and a specific gravity greater than 5.0 (Srivastava and Majumder, 2008). With the rapid development of industries such as metal plating facilities, mining operations, fertilizer industries, tanneries, batteries, paper industries and pesticides, etc., heavy metals wastewaters are directly or indirectly discharged into the environment increasingly, especially in developing countries. Unlike organic contaminants, heavy metals are not biodegradable and tend to accumulate in living organisms and many heavy metal ions are known to be toxic or carcinogenic. Toxic heavy metals of particular concern in treatment of industrial wastewaters include zinc, copper, nickel, mercury, cadmium, lead and chromium.

Zinc is a trace element that is essential for human health. It is important for the physiological functions of living tissue and regulates many biochemical processes. However, too much zinc can cause eminent health problems, such as stomach cramps, skin irritations, vomiting, nausea and anemia (Oyaro et al., 2007). Copper does essential work in animal metabolism. But the excessive ingestion of copper brings about serious toxicological concerns, such as vomiting, cramps, convulsions, or even death (Paulino et al., 2006).

Nickel exceeding its critical level might bring about serious lung and kidney problems aside from gastrointestinal distress, pulmonary fibrosis and skin dermatitis (Borba et al., 2006). And it is known that nickel is human carcinogen. Mercury is a neurotoxin that can cause damage to the central nervous system. High concentrations of mercury cause impairment of pulmonary and kidney function, chest pain and dyspnoea (Namasivayam and Kadirvelu, 1999). The classic example of mercury poisoning is Minamata Bay. Cadmium has been classified by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a probable human carcinogen. Cadmium exposes human health to severe risks. Chronic exposure of cadmium results in kidney dysfunction and high levels of exposure will result in death.

Lead can cause central nervous system damage. Lead can also damage the kidney, liver and reproductive system, basic cellular processes and brain functions. The toxic symptoms are anemia, insomnia, headache, dizziness, irritability, weakness of muscles, hallucination and renal damages (Naseem and Tahir, 2001). Chromium exits in the aquatic environment mainly in two states: Cr(III) and Cr(VI). In general, Cr(VI) is more toxic than Cr(III). Cr(VI) affects human physiology, accumulates in the food chain and causes severe health problems ranging from simple skin irritation to lung carcinoma (Khezami and Capart, 2005).

Faced with more and more stringent regulations, nowadays heavy metals are the environmental priority pollutants and are becoming one of the most serious environmental problems. So these toxic heavy metals should be removed from the wastewater to protect the people and the environment. Many methods that are being used to remove heavy metal ions include chemical precipitation, ion-exchange, adsorption, membrane filtration, electrochemical treatment technologies, etc. The present review article deals with the current techniques for the removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater. Their advantages and limitations in application are also evaluated.

Section snippets

Chemical precipitation

Chemical precipitation is effective and by far the most widely used process in industry (Ku and Jung, 2001) because it is relatively simple and inexpensive to operate. In precipitation processes, chemicals react with heavy metal ions to form insoluble precipitates. The forming precipitates can be separated from the water by sedimentation or filtration. And the treated water is then decanted and appropriately discharged or reused. The conventional chemical precipitation processes include

Remarks of heavy metal treatment methods

Although all the heavy metal wastewater treatment techniques can be employed to remove heavy metals, they have their inherent advantages and limitations.

Heavy metals removal from aqueous solutions has been traditionally carried out by chemical precipitation for its simplicity process and inexpensive capital cost. However, chemical precipitation is usually adapted to treat high concentration wastewater containing heavy metal ions and it is ineffective when metal ion concentration is low. And

Conclusions

Hazardous heavy metal pollution of wastewater is one of the most important environmental problems throughout the world. To meet the increased more and more stringent environmental regulations, a wide range of treatment technologies such as chemical precipitation, coagulation–flocculation, flotation, ion-exchange and membrane filtration, have been developed for heavy metal removal from wastewater. It is evident from the literature survey of 185 articles that ion-exchange, adsorption and membrane

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the financial supports from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51008084) and Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 9451009001002753).

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