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Effective remediation of organic-metal co-contaminated soil by enhanced electrokinetic-bioremediation process

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Abstract

This work investigates the influence of electrokinetic-bioremediation (EK-BIO) on remediating soil polluted by persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals (mainly Cu, Pb and Ni), originated from electronic waste recycling activity. The results demonstrate that most of POPs and metals were removed from the soil. More than 60% of metals and 90% of POPs in the soil were removed after a 30-day EK-BIO remediation assisted by citrate. A citrate sodium concentration of 0.02 g/L was deemed to be suitable because higher citrate did not significantly improve treatment performance whereas increasing dosage consumption. Citrate increased soil electrical current and electroosmotic flow. After remediation, metal residues mainly existed in stable and low-toxic states, which could effectively lower the potential hazard of toxic metals to the surrounding environment and organisms. EK-BIO treatment influenced soil microbial counts, dehydrogenase activity and community structure.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51974313 and 41907405) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20180641).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Low Carbon Energy Institute, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221008, China

    Fu Chen, Jing Ma, Qianlin Zhu & Huagen Liang

  2. School of Environmental Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221008, China

    Fu Chen, Qi Zhang & Yifei Wang

  3. School of Public Policy and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China

    Qi Zhang & Yifei Wang

Authors
  1. Fu Chen
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  2. Qi Zhang
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  3. Jing Ma
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  4. Qianlin Zhu
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  5. Yifei Wang
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  6. Huagen Liang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Fu Chen.

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Highlights

• A new EK-BIO technology was developed to decontaminate e-waste contaminated soil.

• Adding sodium citrate in electrolyte was a good choice for decontaminating the soil.

• The system has good performance with low cost.

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Chen, F., Zhang, Q., Ma, J. et al. Effective remediation of organic-metal co-contaminated soil by enhanced electrokinetic-bioremediation process. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 15, 113 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-021-1401-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-021-1401-y

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