Role of Bioadsorbents in Reducing Toxic Metals

Abstract

Industrialization and urbanization have led to the release of increasing amounts of heavy metals into the environment. Metal ion contamination of drinking water and waste water is a serious ongoing problem especially with high toxic metals such as lead and cadmium and less toxic metals such as copper and zinc. Several biological materials have attracted many researchers and scientists as they offer both cheap and effective removal of heavy metals from waste water. Therefore it is urgent to study and explore all possible sources of agrobased inexpensive adsorbents for their feasibility in the removal of heavy metals. The objective was to study inexpensive adsorbents like various agricultural wastes such as sugarcane bagasse, rice husk, oil palm shell, coconut shell, and coconut husk in eliminating heavy metals from waste water and their utilization possibilities based on our research and literature survey. It also shows the significance of developing and evaluating new potential biosorbents in the near future with higher adsorption capacity and greater reusable options.