NATURAL DETOXIFICATION

PROCESSES IN THE
ENVIRONMENT
DETOXIFICATION AND CLEANSING

Detoxification involves either clearing toxins from the

environment/body or neutralizing or transforming them.

Cleansing the environment of harmful substances such as:

 Heavy metals
 Persistent Organic Pollutants
 Atmospheric gases
 Hydrocarbons
NATURAL CLEANSING PROCESS

 Nature regularly transforms oxygen into ozone through ultra-

violet radiations.

 Ozone breaks down the pollutants and reverts back to oxygen at

ground level.
RESIDENCE TIME FOR AIR
CONTAMINANTS
 The time for which an air contaminant stays in atmosphere is
known as the residence time.
Type Contaminants Approximate Residence Time
     
Major species  N2 106 yr
  O2 10 yr
     
Tracer species  CO2 15 yr
  CH4 10 yr
  H2 10 yr
  N2O 150 yr
  CO 65 days
  NH3 20 days
  NO/NO2  1 day
  O3(troposphere) < 1 yr
  HNO3 1 day
  CFC 11 65 yr
     
Sulfur Compounds  SO2 40 days
  COS > 0.3 * 105 hrs
  CS2 > 1.8 * 105 hrs
  CH3CH 3 - 13 hrs
(CH )S
CLEANSING OF THE ATMOSPHERE
* Methods involved in the cleansing of the atmosphere:
 Deposition of the pollutants, and
 Conversion of pollutants to other forms (oxidation, absorption
etc.)

 Deposition of contaminants on the earth surface:

 Dry deposition: Toxic air contaminants are deposited to the land
and water bodies by settling directly out of the air.
 Wet deposition: Toxic air contaminants are deposited to the
land and water bodies through precipitation.
CLEANSING PROCESS OF SO2
 
Total world emissions are about 100 million tons/year. SO2 is removed from
the atmosphere in about 40 days.

The theory for removal of SO2 is mentioned below:

SO2  +  O2         >  SO3     + H2O > H2 SO4    + NH3, Lime    > Ammonia Sulfate,
Calcium Sulfate.

Ammonia sulfate is a good fertilizer.

CLEANSING PROCESSES OF H2S
AND NH3
Cleansing of H2S
Total world emissions are about 300 million tons/year. Major sources
are volcanoes and biological decay.
H2S      Chemically React - PbO, FeO (metal oxides)   > Insoluble metal sulfides.
 In the laboratory odor can be removed by the addition of a few
tenths of nitrogen oxides, which act as a catalyst to form H2SO4.

Cleansing of Ammonia
Ammonia is removed from the atmosphere by reaction
with acids or acid forming oxides.
CLEANSING PROCESSES OF
FLUORIDES AND CARBON MONOXIDE
Cleansing of Fluorides
Hydrogen fluoride and Silica Fluoride (SiF4) readily attack
a variety of materials (carbonates and silicates etc.), and
are readily removed from the atmosphere.

Cleansing of CO   
Reaction with the hydroxyl radical.
Oxidized in the upper atmosphere by atomic oxygen to yield CO2.
CLEANSING PROCESSES OF CO2
AND NOX
Cleansing of CO2   
Consumption in photosynthesis.  
The concentration of CO2 began increasing in the 18th
century. Data reported in literature indicate that the
increase has accelerated.

Cleansing of NOx
Nitric Acid formed   reacts with ammonia or lime > Ammonia nitrate or
Calcium nitrate.
CLEANSING PROCESSES OF SMOKE
AND HYDROCARBONS
Cleansing of Smoke
Can be removed at source.
Smoke particles slowly settle as a result of gravitational effects,
or rain.  

Cleansing of Hydrocarbons
Reactive hydrocarbons are removed by photochemical reactions.
POLLUTED SOIL
 Phytoremediation
 Plants clean up the polluted soil.
 Fast growing, easy to maintain, and capable of
transforming the pollutants into a non-toxic form.
 PHYTOREMEDIATION

.
 PHYTOREMEDIATI
ON
The term phytoremediation is derived from the Greek prefix
“phyto” meaning plant and the Latin suffix “Remedium”
meaning cure.

Phytoremediation is defined as an engineered use of plants to

remove or control contaminants, or to foster contaminant
breakdown by microorganisms in the plant.
CONT…….
 This technology involves immobilization, removal,
sequestration, or degradation of organic and inorganic
contaminants in soil and water via-plant influenced biological,
chemical and physical processes.

 It is considered to be a sustainable technology in contrast to

conventional approaches employed to remediate contamination
because phytoremediation is driven by solar energy.
  Types

1. Phytodegradation
2. Rhizodegradation,
3. Rhizofiltration
4. Phytostabilisation
5. Phytoextraction,
6.
Phytovolatilisation.
 PHYTODEGRADATION
 It is the breakdown of
contaminants taken up by
plants through metabolic
processes within the plant.
 Pollutants are degraded
and incorporated into the
plant tissues, and used as
nutrient.
 Ideal for organic
contaminants in all
substrates.
RHIZODEGRADATION/PHYTOSTIMULAT
ION
 Also called enhanced rhizosphere bioremediaton.

 Breakdown of contaminants in the soil through microbial

activity that is enhanced by the presence of the
rhizosphere.

 Microorganisms consume and digest organic substances

for nutrition and energy.
 RHIZOFILTRATION
 It is the adsorption onto plant roots or absorption of
contaminants into the roots that are in solution surrounding
the root zone.

 Plants are planted in the contaminated area where the roots

take up the water and the contaminants along with it.

 As the roots become saturated with contaminants, they are

harvested and either incinerated or composted to recycle the
contaminants.
PHYTOSTABILIZAT
ION
Plant species
immobilize
contaminants in the
soil and ground water
through absorption and
accumulation by roots,
via adsorption onto
roots, or precipitation
within the root zone.
CONT…..

 This process reduces the mobility of the contaminant and

prevents migration to the ground water or air, and it reduces
bioavailability for entry into the food chain.

 This technique can be used to reestablish a vegetative cover.

 Metal-tolerant species can be used to restore vegetation to the
sites.
 The potential migration of contaminants is reduced through
wind erosion, transport of exposed surface soils, and leaching of
soil contamination to ground water.
PHYTOEXTRACT
ION
•Alsocalled
phytoaccumulation.

•Refers to the uptake and

translocation of metal
contaminants from the soil
by plant roots into the
aboveground (harvestable)
portions of the plants.
CONT…….
 Hyper accumulators absorb unusually large amounts of
metals in comparison to other plants.

 After the plants have been allowed to grow for several

weeks or months, they are harvested and either
incinerated or composted to recycle the metals.

 This procedure may be repeated as necessary to bring

soil contaminant levels down to allowable limits.
PHYTOVOLATILIZATION
 The uptake and transpiration of a contaminant by a plant,
with release of the contaminant or its modified into the
atmosphere.

 Growing trees and other plants take up water and the

organic contaminants which can pass through the plants
to the leaves and volatilize into the atmosphere at
comparatively low concentrations.