Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jun 18;10(6):e0129978.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0129978. eCollection 2015.

Simultaneous Removal of Lindane, Lead and Cadmium from Soils by Rhamnolipids Combined with Citric Acid

Jinzhong Wan  1 , Die Meng  1 , Tao Long  1 , Rongrong Ying  1 , Mao Ye  2 , Shengtian Zhang  1 , Qun Li  1 , Yan Zhou  1 , Yusuo Lin  1
Affiliations

Simultaneous Removal of Lindane, Lead and Cadmium from Soils by Rhamnolipids Combined with Citric Acid

Jinzhong Wan et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

This study investigated the performance of rhamnolipids-citric acid mixed agents in simultaneous desorption of lindane and heavy metals from soils. The capacity of the mixed agents to solubilize lindane, lead and cadmium in aqueous solution was also explored. The results showed that the presence of citric acid greatly enhanced the solubilization of lindane and cadmium by rhamnolipids. A combined effect of the mixed agents on lindane and heavy metals removal from soils was observed. The maximum desorption ratios for lindane, cadmium and lead were 85.4%, 76.4% and 28.1%, respectively, for the mixed agents containing 1% rhamnolipidsand 0.1 mol/L citric acid. The results also suggest that the removal efficiencies of lead and cadmium were strongly related to their speciations in soils, and metals in the exchangeable and carbonate forms were easier to be removed. Our study suggests that the combining use of rhamnolipids and citric acid is a promising alternative to simultaneously remove organochlorine pesticides and heavy metals from soils.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Lindane solubilization as a function of (a) rhamnolipids and (b) citric acid concentration in the rhamnolipids-citric acid combined system.
Rha denotes rhamnolipids.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Lead and cadmium complexation in (a) rhamnolipidsand (b) Rhamnolipids-citric acid mixed solutions.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Lindane removal from co-contaminated soils by rhamnolipids-citric acid mixed agents as an effect of (a) rhamnolipids and (b) citric acid concentration.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Lead and cadmium removal from co-contaminated soils by rhamnolipids-citric acid mixed agents.
(a) Lead and (b) cadmium removal as an effect of rhamnolipids concentration. (c) Lead and (d) Cadmium removal as an effect of citric acid concentration.
Fig 5
Fig 5. Fractionation of (a) lead and (b) cadmium in soils before and after washing treatment.
Exch, Carb, Oxid, Org, Res denote the heavy metals in the exchangeable, carbonates, Fe-Mn oxides, organic and residual forms, respectively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cleaning up the nation’s waste sites: markets and technology trends [Internet]. www.cluin.org/download/market/2004market.pdf. 2004.
    1. Ullmann A, Brauner N, Vazana S, Katz Z, Goikhman R, Seemann B, et al. New biodegradable organic-soluble chelating agents for simultaneous removal of heavy metals and organic pollutants from contaminated media. J Hazard Mater. 2013;260:676–88. 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2013.06.027 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ye M, Sun M, Wan J, Fang G, Li H, Hu F, et al. Enhanced soil washing process for the remediation of PBDEs/Pb/Cd-contaminated electronic waste site with carboxymethyl chitosan in a sunflower oil-water solvent system and microbial augmentation. Environ Sci Pollut R. 2015;22(4):2687–98. 10.1007/s11356-014-3518-z . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lima TMS, Procopio LC, Brandao FD, Carvalho AMX, Totola MR, Borges AC. Simultaneous phenanthrene and cadmium removal from contaminated soil by a ligand/biosurfactant solution. Biodegradation. 2011;22(5):1007–15. 10.1007/s10532-011-9459-z . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Cao MH, Hu Y, Sun Q, Wang LL, Chen J, Lu XH. Enhanced desorption of PCB and trace metal elements (Pb and Cu) from contaminated soils by saponin and EDDS mixed solution. Environ Pollut. 2013;174:93–9. 10.1016/j.envpol.2012.11.015 . - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources