Heavy metal is released from many industries into water. Before the industrial wastewater is discharged, the contamination level should be reduced to meet the recommended level as prescribed by the local laws of a country. They may be poisonous or cancerous in origin. Their presence does not only damage people, but also animals and vegetation because of their mobility, toxicity, and non-biodegradability into aquatic ecosystems. The review comprehensively discusses the progress made by various adsorbents such as natural materials, synthetic, agricultural, biopolymers, and commercial for extraction of the metal ions such as Ni2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, Cd2+, As2+ and Zn2+ along with their adsorption mechanisms. The adsorption isotherm indicates the relation between the amount adsorbed by the adsorbent and the concentration. The Freundlich isotherm explains the effective physical adsorption of the solute particle from the solution on the adsorbent and Langmuir isotherm gives an idea about the effect of various factors on the adsorption process. The adsorption kinetics data provide valuable insights into the reaction pathways, the mechanism of the sorption reaction, and solute uptake. The pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models were applied to describe the sorption kinetics. The presented information can be used for the development of bio-based water treatment strategies.

• Keywords
• adsorption, bioadsorbent, heavy metal, polymeric adsorbents, wastewater,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of molds on levels of low molecular mass thiols in grasses. For this purpose, the three grass species Lolium perenne, Festulolium pabulare and Festulolium braunii were cultivated and sampled during four months, from June to September. The same species were also grown under controlled conditions. High-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection was used for quantification of cysteine, reduced (GSH) and oxidized (GSSG) glutathione, and phytochelatins (PC2, PC3, PC4 and PC5). Data were statistically processed and analyzed. Thiols were present in all examined grass species. The effect of fungicide treatments applied under field conditions on the content of the evaluated thiols was shown to be insignificant. Species influenced (p < 0.05) PC3 and GSSG content. F. pabulare, an intergeneric hybrid of drought- and fungi-resistant Festuca arundinacea, was comparable in PC3 content with L. perenne and F. braunii under field conditions. Under controlled conditions, however, F. pabulare had higher (p < 0.05) PC3 content than did L. perenne and F. braunii. Under field conditions, differences between the evaluated species were recorded only in GSSG content, but only sampling in June was significant. F. pabulare had higher (p < 0.05) GSSG content in June than did L. perenne and F. braunii.

• MeSH
• Fungi * MeSH
• Poaceae chemistry   microbiology   MeSH
• Molecular Weight MeSH
• Sulfhydryl Compounds analysis   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Sulfhydryl Compounds MeSH

Routine determination of trace metals in complex media is still a difficult task for many analytical instruments. The aim of this work was to compare three electro-chemical instruments [a standard potentiostat (Autolab), a commercially available miniaturized potentiostat (PalmSens) and a homemade micropotentiostat] for easy-to-use and sensitive determination of cadmium(II) and lead(II) ions. The lowest detection limits (hundreds of pM) for both metals was achieved by using of the standard potentiostat, followed by the miniaturized potentiostat (tens of nM) and the homemade instrument (hundreds of nM). Nevertheless, all potentiostats were sensitive enough to evaluate contamination of the environment, because the environmental limits for both metals are higher than detection limits of the instruments. Further, we tested all used potentiostats and working electrodes on analysis of environmental samples (rainwater, flour and plant extract) with artificially added cadmium(II) and lead(II). Based on the similar results obtained for all potentiostats we choose a homemade instrument with a carbon tip working electrode for our subsequent environmental experiments, in which we analyzed maize and sunflower seedlings and rainwater obtained from various sites in the Czech Republic.

• Keywords
• amperometry, cadmium, heavy metals, lead, maize, miniaturization, plant, screen printed electrode, sunflower, voltammetry, water,
• MeSH
• Automation MeSH
• Biosensing Techniques instrumentation   methods   MeSH
• Electrochemistry instrumentation   methods   MeSH
• Ions analysis   MeSH
• Cadmium analysis   MeSH
• Zea mays chemistry   MeSH
• Microelectrodes MeSH
• Environmental Monitoring instrumentation   methods   MeSH
• Lead analysis   MeSH
• Plants chemistry   MeSH
• Trace Elements analysis   MeSH
• Carbon chemistry   pharmacology   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Evaluation Study MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Ions MeSH
• Cadmium MeSH
• Lead MeSH
• Trace Elements MeSH
• Carbon MeSH