Disposal options for polluted plants grown on heavy metal contaminated brownfield lands – A review

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) Vol. 166; pp. 8 - 20
• Main Authors: Kovacs, Helga, Szemmelveisz, Katalin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2017
• Subjects: Biodegradation, Environmental; Biomass; Disposal options; Environmental Monitoring - methods; Gases; Heavy metal; Hot Temperature; Incineration; Industrial Waste; Ligneous plants; Metals - chemistry; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Metals, Heavy - chemistry; Mining; Phytoextraction; Plants - chemistry; Soil; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Solubility; Thermal treatment; Waste Water - chemistry; Water Purification - methods; Zinc - chemistry; Ligneous plants; Disposal options; Phytoextraction; Heavy metal; Thermal treatment
• ISSN: 0045-6535; 1879-1298
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.09.076

Reducing or preventing damage caused by environmental pollution is a significant goal nowadays. Phytoextraction, as remediation technique is widely used, but during the process, the heavy metal content of the biomass grown on these sites special treatment and disposal techniques are required, for example liquid extraction, direct disposal, composting, and combustion. These processes are discussed in this review in economical and environmental aspects. The following main properties are analyzed: form and harmful element content of remains, utilization of the main and byproducts, affect to the environment during the treatment and disposal. The thermal treatment (combustion, gasification) of contaminated biomass provides a promising alternative disposal option, because the energy production affects the rate of return, and the harmful elements are riched in a small amount of solid remains depending on the ash content of the plant (1–2%). The biomass combustion technology is a wildely used energy production process in residential and industrial scale, but the ordinary biomass firing systems are not suited to burn this type of fuel without environmental risk. •This review analyzes the biological processes in plants accumulating pollutants from soil, to determine the heavy metal behavior during disposal.•This review summarizes and compares the disposal technologies and experiment results.•The phytoremediation (phytoextraction) technique of heavy metal contaminated soils were analyzed.•The behavior and distribution of heavy metals in plants were determined based on theoretical and experimental researches.Treatment and disposal options of contaminated biomass were critically analyzed and compared based on the literature.