Removal of heavy metals using polyvinyl alcohol semi-IPN poly(acrylic acid)/tourmaline composite optimized with response surface methodology

The aim of this study was to determine soil properties influence on the heavy metals sorption by vegetables which are used in the diet and possibilities for prediction of their bioaccumulation by response surface methodology (RSM). Lettuce was used as biosorbent, and cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) were used as contaminants. Lettuce is grown on compost (previously contaminated with different concentrations of Cd and Pb) which pH was adjusted with different amounts of NPK fertilizers. The content of heavy metals was determined by ICP-MS. Results showed that Cd content in lettuce was below the toxic values, but Pb concentration was above allowable, which indicates that limit value for Pb is not set in accordance with the food safety regulations. It was found that the heavy metals accumulation in plants depends not only on its content in the soil, but also on the plant affinity to the specific metal, and the individual or the interactive effects of different soil properties. Through the transfer factor it was found that lettuce has a much higher affinity to Cd in relation to Pb. RSM has proved to be very good for the examination of a large number of variables with a small number of experiments.

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Improvement of Ficin-Based Inhibitive Enzyme Assay for Mercury Using Response Surface Methodology and Its Application for Near Real-Time Monitoring of Mercury in Marine Waters

10.20944/preprints202008.0689.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Garba Uba ◽

Motharasan Manogaran ◽

Baskaran Gunasekaran ◽

Mohd Izuan Effendi Halmi ◽

Mohd Yunus Abd Shukor

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Response Surface Methodology ◽

Response Surface ◽

Real Time ◽

Sampling Site ◽

Real Time Monitoring ◽

Preliminary Screening ◽

Heavy Metals Pollution ◽

Straits Of Malacca ◽

Metal Assay

Heavy metals pollution in the Straits of Malacca warrants the development of rapid, simple and sensitive assays. Enzyme-based assays are excellent preliminary screening tool with near real-time potential. The heavy-metal assay based on the protease ficin was optimized for mercury detection using Response Surface Methodology. The inhibitive assay is based on ficin action on the substrate casein and residual casein is determined using the Coomassie dye-binding assay. Heavy metals strongly inhibit the hydrolysis. A Central Composite Design (CCD) was utilized to optimize detection. The results show a marked improvement for the concentration causing 50% inhibition (IC50) for mercury, silver and copper. Compared to One-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) optimization, RSM gave an improvement of IC50 from 0.060 (95% CI, 0.0300.080) to 0.017 (95% CI, 0.0160.019), from 0.098 (95% CI, 0.0770.127) to 0.028 (95% CI, 0.0220.037) and from 0.040 (95% CI, 0.035.045) to 0.023 (95% CI, 0.0200.027), for mercury, silver and copper, respectively. A near real-time monitoring of mercury concentration in the Straits of Malacca at one location in Port Klang was carried out over a 4-h interval for a total of 24 h and validated by instrumental analysis with the result revealing an absence of mercury pollution in the sampling site.

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