Complexation of Antimony with Natural Organic Matter: Performance Evaluation during Coagulation-Flocculation Process.

Muhammad Inam,Sarfaraz Khan,Du Park,Ick Yeom,Rizwan Khan,Ahmed Uddin

doi:10.3390/ijerph16071092

Abstract

The presence of natural organic matter (NOM) in drinking water sources can stabilize toxic antimony (Sb) species, thus enhancing their mobility and causing adverse effects on human health. Therefore, the present study aims to quantitatively explore the complexation of hydrophobic/hydrophilic NOM, i.e., humic acid (HA), salicylic acid (SA), and L-cysteine (L-cys), with Sb in water. In addition, the removal of Sb(III, V) species and total organic carbon (TOC) was evaluated with ferric chloride (FC) as a coagulant. The results showed a stronger binding affinity of hydrophobic HA as compared to hydrophilic NOM. The optimum FC dose required for Sb(V) removal was found to be higher than that for Sb(III), due to the higher complexation ability of hydrophobic NOM with antimonate than antimonite. TOC removal was found to be higher in hydrophobic ligands than hydrophilic ligands. The high concentration of hydrophobic molecules significantly suppresses the Sb adsorption onto Fe precipitates. An isotherm study suggested a stronger adsorption capacity for the hydrophobic ligand than the hydrophilic ligand. The binding of Sb to NOM in the presence of active Fe sites was significantly reduced, likely due to the adsorption of contaminants onto precipitated Fe. The results of flocs characteristics revealed that mechanisms such as oxidation, complexation, charge neutralization, and adsorption may be involved in the removal of Sb species from water. This study may provide new insights into the complexation behavior of Sb in NOM-laden water as well as the optimization of the coagulant dose during the water treatment process.

Highlights

Antimony (Sb) is a semi-metallic element widely found in the environment that is introduced into water bodies as a result of natural processes and anthropogenic activities [1]
We investigated the complexation behavior of stabilize toxic antimony (Sb)(III, V) species with different natural organic matter (NOM), i.e., hydrophobic (HA) and hydrophilic (SA and L-cys) in water
Our results demonstrated that hydrophobic ligands could form stronger complexes with Sb than hydrophilic ligands, with higher affinity for Sb(V) than Sb(III) species

Summary

Introduction

Antimony (Sb) is a semi-metallic element widely found in the environment that is introduced into water bodies as a result of natural processes and anthropogenic activities [1]. Higher rates of Sb contamination have been reported in natural water reservoirs near mining and smelting areas [2,3]. Sb levels up to 1000 μg/L were detected in the groundwater near abandoned Sb mines in Slovakia [4]. Due to its abundance and toxicity, higher Sb pollution in drinking water supplies is a potential risk to human health [5,6]. In order to protect human health, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), European Union (EU), Int. J. Public Health 2019, 16, 1092; doi:10.3390/ijerph16071092 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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Results

Conclusion