Soil Remediation with Green Chelants

Aminopolycarboxylate chelants (APCs) such as, EDTA and its homologs are commonly utilized in the ex situ washing remediation of the metal-contaminated soils due to their ability to interact with the majority of toxic elements. However, the eco-environmental consequences due to the release of APCs to the surroundings become an issue of concern, and increasingly stringent legislative regulations have been proposed or imposed to control the discharge of APCs. Therefore, replacement of classical APCs with eco-friendly biodegradable variants became a topic of interest. In a broad sense, the book is about a thorough evaluation of two new biodegradable APCs, namely DL-2-(2-carboxymethyl)nitrilo-triacetic acid (GLDA) and 3-hydroxy-2,2'-iminodisuccinic acid (HIDS), for the washing remediation of contaminated soils. The content includes discussion on the complexation properties of GLDA and HIDS with the divalent (Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) and trivalent (Cr, Fe) ions, along with practical examples of the washing treatment of both naturally and artificially metal-contaminated reference soils with GLDA and HIDS. Besides, a comparative evaluation with other green chelants is included.