Feasibility Study on Reducing Lead and Cadmium Absorption by Alfalfa (Medicago scutellata L.) in a Contaminated Soil Using Nano-Activated Carbon and Natural Based Nano-Zeolite

Tahereh  HASANABADI; Shahram LACK; Adel MODHEJ; Hossien GHAFOURIAN; Mojtaba ALAVIFAZEL; M. Reza ARDAKANI

doi:10.15835/nbha47411613

Authors

Tahereh HASANABADI Young Researchers and Elites Club, Tehran North Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran (IR)
Shahram LACK Islamic Azad University, Department of Agronomy, Ahvaz Branch, Ahvaz (IR)
Adel MODHEJ Islamic Azad University, Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Shoushtar Branch, Shoushtar (IR)
Hossien GHAFOURIAN Islamic Azad University, Department of Environmental Science, North Tehran Branch, Tehran (IR)
Mojtaba ALAVIFAZEL Islamic Azad University, Department of Agronomy, Ahvaz Branch, Ahvaz (IR)
M. Reza ARDAKANI Islamic Azad University, Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Karaj Branch, Karaj (IR)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15835/nbha47411613

Keywords:

activated carbon; alfalfa; heavy metals; nano-porous adsorbent

Abstract

The first risk posed by heavy metal pollution in an ecosystem is metal accumulation in the biomass of growing plants, which has harmful effects on human health. Natural-based nanoparticles are efficient in remediating environmental pollutants because they have a high surface/volume ratio, high chemical activity and produce no harmful side-products. The present study investigates the capacity of natural-based nano-porous adsorbents for reducing the availability of heavy metals to annual alfalfa (Medicago scutellata L.) roots and keeps them in soil. In a factorial experiment based on a randomized design (with four replications), three nano-adsorbents (nano-activated carbon, natural nano-zeolite and modified nano-zeolite) and two heavy metals (lead and cadmium) have been tested. The results demonstrated that applying the highest rate of activated carbon and modified nano-zeolite reduced shoot Pb content by 34% and 33.2%, and shoot Cd content by 35.5% and 46.7%, respectively, compared with the adsorbent-free control.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Ahmad AA, Hameed BH (2010). Fixed-bed adsorption of reactive azo dye onto granular activated carbon prepared from waste. Journal of Hazardous Materials 175(1-3):298-303.

Argiri A, Ioannou Z, Dimirkou A (2013). Impact of new soil amendments on the uptake of lead by crops. Communication in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 44(1-4):566-573.

Benkli YE, Can MF, Turan M, Celik MS (2005). Modification of organo-zeolite surface for the removal of reactive azo dyes in fixed-bed reactors. Water Research 39(2-3):487-93.

Blaylock MJ, Salt DE, Dushenkov S, Zakharova O, Gussman C, Kapulnik Y, … Raskin I (1997). Enhanced accumulation of Pb in Indian mustard by soil-applied chelating-agents. Environmental Science and Technology 31(3):860-865.

Chen HT, Trewyn BG, Wiench JW, Pruski M, Lin VSY (2010). Urea and thio-urea-functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticle catalysts with enhanced catalytic activity fordiels-alder reaction. Topics in Catalysis 53(3-4):187-191.

Cocks PS (1992). Plant attributes leading to persistence in grazed annual medics (Medicago spp) growing in rotation with wheat. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 43(7):1559-1570.

Darvishi S, Ardakani MR, Vazan S, Ghafourian H, Paknejad F, Faregh AH (2012). Feasibility study on reducing lead and cadmium absorption by spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) in a contaminated soil using nanoporous activated carbon. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 297(1):167-173.

Dwivedi CP, Sahu J, Mohanty C, Mohan BR, Meikap B (2008). Column performance of granular activated carbon packed bed for Pb (II) removal. Journal of Hazardous Materials 156(1-3):596-603.

Hamidpour M, Afyuni M, Kalbasi M, Khoshgoftarmanesh AA, Inglezakis VJ (2010). Mobility and plant-availability of Cd (II) and Pb adsorbed on zeolite and bentonite. Applied Clay Science 48(3):342-348.

Hoseinzade H, Ardakani M, Shahdi A, Asadi Rahmani H, Noormohammadi G, Miransari M (2016). Rice (Oryza sativa L.) nutrient management using mycorrhizal fungi and endophytic Herbaspirillum seropedicae. Journal of Integrative Agriculture 15(6):1385-1394.

Hu XF, Jiang Y, Shu Y, Hu X, Liu L, Luo F (2014). Effects of mining wastewater discharges on heavy metal pollution and soil enzyme activity of the paddy fields. Journal of Geochemical Exploring 147:139-150.

Kadirvelu K (2005). Activated carbon from industrial solid waste as an adsorbent for the removal of Rhodamine-B from aqueous solution: kinetic and equilibrium studies. Chemosphere 60(8):1009-1017.

Karnib M, Kabbani A, Holail H, Olama Z (2014). Heavy metals removal using activated carbon, silica and silica activated carbon composite. Energy Procedia 50:113-120.

Kayabali K, Kezer H (1998). Testing the ability of Bentonite-amended natural zeolite (Clinoptilolite) to remove heavy metals from liquid waste. Environmental Geology 34(2-3):95-102.

Kocaoba S, Orhan Y, Akyüz T (2007). Kinetics and equilibrium studies of heavy metal ions removal by use of natural zeolite. Desalination 214(1-3):1-10.

Mahabadi A, Hajabasi MA, Khademi H, Kazemian HH (2007). Soil cadmium stabilization using an Iranian natural zeolite. Geoderma 137(3-4):388-393.

Ok YS, Yang JE, Zhang YS, Kim SJ, Chung DY (2007). Heavy metal adsorption by a formulated zeolite-Portland cements mixture. Journal of Hazardous Materials 147(1-2):91-96.

Panneerselvam P, Thinakaran N, Thiruvenkataravi KV, Palanichamy M, Sivanesan S (2008). Phosphoric acid modified-Y zeolites: A novel, efficient and versatile ion exchanger. Journal of Hazardous Materials 159(2-3):427- 434.

Panuccio MR, Sorgona A, Rizzo M, Cacco G (2009). Cadmium adsorption on vermiculite, zeolite and pumice: Batch experimental studies. Journal of Environmental Management 90(1):364-374.

Putwattana N, Kruatrachue M, Kumsopa A, Pokethitiyook P (2015). Evaluation of organic and inorganic amendments on maize growth and uptake of cd and Zn from contaminated paddy soils. International Journal of Phytoremediation 17(2):165-174.

Reed B, Arunachalam S (1994). Removal of lead and cadmium from aqueous waste streams using granular activated carbon. Environmental Progress 13(1):121-131.

Samarbakhsh S, Rejali F, Ardakani MR, Nejad FP, Miransari M (2009). The combined effects of fungicides and arbuscular mycorrhiza on corn (Zea mays L.) growth and yield under field conditions. Journal of Biological Sciences 9(4):372-376.

Sharma P, Dubey RS (2005). Lead toxicity in plants. Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology 17(1):35-52.

Shi WY, Shao HB, Li H, Shao MA, Du S (2009). Progress in the remediation of hazardous heavy metal-polluted soils by natural zeolite. Journal of Hazardous Materials 170(1):1- 6.

Song J (2011). Adsorption characteristics of methylene blue by peanut husk in batch and column modes. Desalination 265(1-3):119-125.

Tratnyek PG, Johnson RL (2006). Nanotechnologies for environmental cleanup. Nano Today 1(2):44-48.

Tsui LS, Roy WR, Cole MA (2002). Removal of dissolved textile dyes from wastewater by compost sorbent. Journal of Color Technology 119(1):14-18.

Wingenfelder U, Nowack B, Furrer G, Schulin R (2005). Adsorption of Pb and Cd by amine-modified zeolite. Water Research 39(14):3287- 3297.