The Efficacy of Emilia sonchifolia (Tagulinaw) Charcoal as Lead Adsorbent

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Access to clean and adequate water remains a critical problem in urban and coastal areas in the Philippines. Water pollutants in these areas trace back to domestic and industrial sources. Lead (Pb) pollution caused by the emission of a massive number of industrial wastes has become a critical environmental concern. Therefore, this study investigated the potential of Emilia sonchifolia (Tagulinaw) charcoal as lead adsorbents in contaminated water.

METHODS

The leaves and stems of E. sonchifolia (Tagulinaw) were placed inside the Muffle Furnace Machine (Nabertherm 180®) which was set to 350oC until the E. sonchifolia (Tagulinaw) turned into charcoal. The potential of 2.5 grams, 5 grams, and 10 grams of E. sonchifolia (Tagulinaw) charcoal to adsorb lead were measured by submerging samples into contaminated water (1000 parts per million (ppm) lead). The samples were stirred for 30 minutes, at 500 rotations per minute (rpm), and then filtered to remove flocculates. The lead adsorption was then measured with the use of an atomic absorption spectrophotometer.

RESULTS

The Emilia sonchifolia (Tagulinaw) charcoal has the ability to adsorb lead in contaminated water. The average amount of adsorbed lead of 2.5 grams, 5 grams and 10 grams of E. sonchifolia charcoal were 999.71ppm, 999.29ppm, and 999.16 ppm respectively. 2.5 grams of E. sonchifolia charcoal adsorbed the highest amount of lead while 10 grams of E. sonchifolia charcoal adsorbed the least. The adsorbed concentration of lead by the 2.5 grams of E. sonchifolia charcoal was far better than the adsorbed lead by the 5 grams and 10 grams of E. sonchifolia charcoal. Overall, all the different masses of E. sonchifolia charcoal adsorbed high and varied concentrations of lead.

DISCUSSIONS

Different masses of Emilia sonchifolia (Tagulinaw) charcoal have the potential in adsorbing lead. The smaller masses of E. sonchifolia charcoal adsorbed higher concentrations of lead due to enough binding sites wherein saturation ensued. Higher masses of E. sonchifolia charcoal caused adsorbed lead concentrations to decrease, with a larger fraction of lower energy sites occupied. Moreover, smaller amount of E. sonchifolia charcoal adsorbed higher concentrations of lead in contaminated water. The same results were obtained in the study conducted by Amuda on the removal of heavy metal from industrial wastewater using modified activated coconut shell carbon.