Lead Remediation of Contaminated Water by Charcoal, LA Red Clay, Spinach, and Mustard Green

Lovell Agwaramgbo, Eucharia Agwaramgbo, Chanel Mercadel, Shelby Edwards, Eric Buckles

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DOI: 10.4236/jep.2011.29142                

Abstract

Lead is a toxic and naturally occurring substance with documented neurotoxin, toxic, and long-lasting adverse health effects globally. Lead exposure can cause impaired physical and mental development in children. Exposure to high lead levels affects the intestinal tract, kidneys, joints and reproductive system in adults. This study evaluates the removal of 1500 PPM of lead from contaminated aqueous solution using Celite, Louisiana Red Clay, Charcoal, and supernatants from aqueous extracts of Mustard Green (Brassica juncea), and Spinach (Spinacea oleracea). After shaking triplicate reaction mixtures for each substrate for 22 hours at room temperature, lead removal by the five substrates were analyzed by EPA Method 6010, using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES). Results suggest that the order of lead removal is Spinach (98%) > Charcoal (96%) > LA Red Clay (88%) > Mustard Green (87%) > Celite (4%). The study concludes that liquid substrates such as the supernatants from pureed spinach and mustard green can effectively remove lead from contaminated water.

Keywords

Remediation, Heavy Metal, Lead, Water Contamination, Spinach, Contaminated Water

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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