Estimation of Cadmium uptake by tobacco plants from laboratory leaching tests.

The objective of the present study was to determine the impact of cadmium (Cd) concentration in the soil on its uptake by tobacco plants, and to compare the ability of diverse extraction procedures for determining Cd bioavailability and predicting soil-to-plant transfer and Cd plant concentrations. The pseudo-total digestion procedure, modified Tessier sequential extraction and six standard single-extraction tests for estimation of metal mobility and bioavailability were used for the leaching of Cd from a native soil, as well as samples artificially contaminated over a wide range of Cd concentrations. The results of various leaching tests were compared between each other, as well as with the amounts of Cd taken up by tobacco plants in pot experiments.

Effect of experimental variables onto Co(2+) and Sr(2+) sorption behavior in red mud-water suspensions.

The prospects of rinsed red mud (alumina production residue) utilization for liquid radioactive waste treatment have been investigated, with Co(2+) and Sr(2+) as model cations of radioactive elements. To evaluate the sorption effectiveness and corresponding binding mechanisms, the process was analyzed in batch conditions, by varying experimental conditions (pH, Co(2+) and Sr(2+) concentrations in single solutions and binary mixtures, contact time, and the concentration of competing cations and ligands common in liquid radioactive waste). Comparison of the Co(2+) and Sr(2+) sorption pH edges with the red mud isoelectric point has revealed that Co(2+) removal took place at both positive and negative red mud surface, while Sr(2+) sorption abruptly increased when the surface became negatively charged.

Evaluation of factors influencing Co²⁺ removal by calcinated bone sorbent using experimental design methodology.

Experimental design methodology was applied for evaluation of factors influencing Co(2+) sorption by thermally treated bovine bones. The major aim of this study was to determine factors which affect process the most, as well as their mutual interactions, in order to select conditions that provide maximum sorbent loading. Five process variables (sorbent mass, sorbate concentration, contact time, initial pH and agitation speed) were examined by full factorial design at two levels.

The effect of process parameters on kinetics and mechanisms of Co2+ removal by bone char.

Bone char powder, composed mainly of poorly crystalline hydroxyapatite (Ca(10)(PO(4))(6)(OH)(2)), carbon and CaCO(3), has potential applicability in the removal of Co(2+) ions from contaminated effluents. In the present study, the influence of process parameters: particle size, agitation speed, initial pH and initial sorbate concentration, onto kinetics and mechanism of Co(2+)sorption was studied and discussed. In order to describe and compare time evolution of the process under different conditions, the experimental data were analyzed using pseudo-first, pseudo-second and Vermeulen's kinetic models.