Republic of the Philippines

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY

BatStateU Alangilan
Alangilan, Batangas City

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE AND FINE ARTS

Chemical and Food Engineering Department

Journal Critique:
Review on Remediation Technologies of Soil
Contaminated by Heavy Metals

Submitted by:
Plata, Alyssa Sydney L.
FE - 2101

Submitted to:
Engr. Nico John Rosaldo Abratique, M.Eng

Date:
05 December 2021
 I. Abstract
Soil contamination is the degradation of soil quality and fertility as a result of heavy
metals and petroleum chemicals, which degrade the soil. The remediation methods of soil
polluted by heavy metals, including physical remediation, chemical remediation, and
biological remediation, were focused in this research on the basis of analyzing the situation
of soil contaminated in China. As a result, the issue of soil pollution must be addressed as
soon as possible.

II. Introduction
Soil pollution is caused by rapid industrialization and human activities such as
sewage irrigation, mining, and industrial factory combustion. Pollutant absorption and
binding into the soil is constantly a subject of concern. Because these contaminants are not
biodegradable, they devastate the soil ecology and impede plant and microbe development.
Because various types of heavy metal sources, heavy metal-contaminated soil has become
one of the environmental challenges that has polluted widely and caused serious harm.

Furthermore, heavy metal pollution of water and soil contamination has become a
concern to the environment, food safety, and agriculture's long-term sustainability.
According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), heavy metal-contaminated
grain totaled 12 million tons, with an immediate economic loss of more than 20 billion
yuan. Heavy metals contaminated soil prevention is necessary not only to manage sources,
but also to improve contaminated soil rehabilitation. To address this worldwide issue,
European governments have made significant investments in the remediation of polluted
soils. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA), sometimes known as the superfund program, was established by the United
States Congress in the 1980s to safeguard human health and clean up environmental
contamination. In the 1990s, the United Kingdom established an Environmental Protection
Act, the second section of which explicitly articulated the notion of polluter responsibility.

1. Physical Remediation
 From an environmental viewpoint, soil remediation is the lowering of
pollutant concentrations within soil. Hydrocarbon concentrations in soils have been
determined to be beyond acceptable limits for human health and must be addressed
before the property can be developed as a residential housing estate. The most
common types of physical remediation are soil replenishment and thermal
desorption. Soil replacement is further broken down into three categories: soil
replacement, soil spading, and fresh soil import. According to reports, the tree
responds by growing new roots in the new soil, especially if the old soil was
compacted or chemically tainted. This new approach will require a lot more testing
before it gets widely used. (2) Soil spading is the process of loosening soil in one
pass in order to facilitate percolation and root penetration. Finally, (3) new soil
importation entails introducing large amounts of clean soil into polluted soil, either
by covering it at the surface or mixing it, in order to reduce pollutant concentrations.

2. Chemical Remediation

2.1 Chemical leaching

Chemical leaching is a conventional remediation technology for polluted
soil remediation that includes dissolving, extracting, and separating contaminants.
Moreover, Toxic metals may be extracted from the smallest portions of damaged
soils by chemical leaching. Despite this, running expenses are expensive because
of the massive volumes of chemicals and process water used. Moreover, The
removal of arsenic from polluted soil has been explored using an environmentally
friendly and cost-effective extraction approach. Potassium phosphate was the most
successful in removing arsenic from a variety of potassium and sodium solutions.
Arsenic was successfully removed at 40°C using a phosphate solution with a pH of
6.0 and a phosphate concentration of 300 mM. In another study, Cadmium and zinc
removal by a 0.01 M Na2 EDTA solution was significantly improved when 0.1 M
Na2S2O5 was added, suggesting that a combination of the two reagents might
provide an economically optimal treatment for some polluted soils. It's worth noting
that biological reagents were utilized to leach heavy metals in soil in order to
increase biological degradability of extractants and limit the danger of secondary
contamination.

2.2 Chemical Fixation

Chemical Fixation is a chemical procedure that prevents metals from
seeping into groundwater during soil rehabilitation efforts. It is the process of
introducing materials into polluted soils and combining them with toxic metals to
generate insoluble potentially toxic matter, therefore reducing heavy metal
migration to water, plants, and other environmental media and accomplishing soil
restoration. Bonemeal additions decreased the presence of metals in the soils,
according to batch studies and subsequent removal of metals from standards and
bonemeal supplemented soils using 0.01 M CaCl2 and DTPA. There was also a
report on the use of attapulgite clay to clean up polluted soil. The results revealed
that adding substantial attapulgite clay to soil reduced cadmium concentrations by
46% while having no effect on soil quality or crop yield. Chemical fixation might
potentially treat soils with moderate concentrations of contaminants; however the
bioavailability of fixed heavy metals may fluctuate as environments change.

2.3 Electrokinetic remediation

Electrokinetic remediation is a method of moving pollutants by applying a
low-voltage direct-current electric field over a segment of contaminated soil. It is
appropriate for low permeability soil and has the advantages of being simple to
install and run, cheap cost, and not destroying the natural ecosystem, allowing for
environmental restoration and the preservation of the original ecotope.

2.4 Vitrify Technology

Vitrification employs a tremendous source of energy to melt soil at extreme
temperatures, trapping most inorganic impurities while oxidation eliminates
organic contaminants. An off-gas management system collects the product created
following the heat processes. These elements produce vitreous, a rock-shaped
glass-like structure that surrounds the heavy metal pollutants, preventing them from
 moving from one location to another. In conclusion, this method is capable of
removing heavy metals with a high level of effectiveness. However, it is difficult
and requires a lot of energy to melt, making it expensive and limited in use.

3. Biological Remediation

3.1 Phytoremediation
Phytoremediation is a method of extracting and removing elemental
contaminants from the environment or lowering their bioavailability in soil.
Phytoremediation is the process of using live green plants to repair or absorb toxins,
clean them up, or reduce or eliminate their danger. Plants have the ability to absorb
ionic substances from the soil through their root system, even at low quantities.
Furthermore, Phytostabilization involves plants fixing toxic metals by
precipitation, and root reduction, lowering their movement and bioavailability and
preventing them from migrating into groundwater. Phytovolatilization is another
sort. Using unique substances released by the root, it is moving toxic metals into a
volatile condition or adsorbing the metals and converting them into gas. Lastly,
Phytoextraction is the process of adsorbing toxic metals with tolerant and gathering
plants, then transporting and storing them above ground. This method entails
collecting biomass on a regular basis in order to reduce pollutant levels in the soil.
Phytoextraction can be a continual process or a prompted process.

3.2 Biological Remediation

A large mixture of different pollutants are discharged into the air as a result
of a variety of industrial and agricultural operations, raising concerns about possible
toxicity and bioaccumulation of diverse chemicals in biological systems. Although
microbial growth in soil is responsible for the majority of the breakdown of organic
pollutants, chemical and physical processes can also play a role in their
transformation. Biological remediation, which uses microbes and plants to remove
dangerous toxins, is typically thought to be a safer and less expensive option.
Moreover, Microbial leaching offers some promise for remediation of mining areas,
 treatment of mineral industrial waste products, and remediation of heavy metal-
contaminated soils in addition to its industrial application for raw materials supply.
Using another treatment, the function of VA mycorrhizae as a biological agent in
lowering heavy metal toxicity was investigated by Abdel-Aziz et al. In comparison
to uninoculated treatments, the technique of inoculation with VA mycorrhizae
resulted in a considerable increase in these parameters. Inoculation with VA
mycorrhizae decreased the content of toxic metals in the sewage sludge treated soil
where they were present in high quantities. This demonstrated the importance of
VA mycorrhizae in mitigating the harmful effects of heavy metals when they are
present in high concentrations in developing plant mediums.

3.3 Animal Remediation

Soil contamination occurs from a variety of causes, including agriculture
activities, although animals can also assist to reduce heavy metal levels in the soil.
Animal remediation is based on the characterization of some lower animals that
absorb toxic and harmful metals, degrade them, migrate them, and thereby remove
and reduce their toxicity. The earthworm-straw mulching combination treatment
raised plant Cu concentration, however the quantity increased was less than the
earthworm treatment but higher than the straw mulching treatment, according to
the investigations.

III. Conclusion
The country's soil remediation system environment is currently not completely
functional, with no marketplace mechanism in place, no efficient financing mechanism,
and a weak return on capital for soil remediation projects. As a result, remediation
technology development in China is still at an individualized and pioneering level. The
administration must also continue to pursue research that will aid in the implementation of
soil remediation techniques.

IV. References
Li, J. et al. (2012). “Review on Remediation Technologies of Soil
Contaminated by Heavy Metals”. Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878029612006378