Remediation of Soils Contaminated by Pesticides Using Physicochemical Processes: a Brief Review

BALDISSARELLI, D.P.; VARGAS, G.D.L.P.; KORF, E.P.; GALON, L.; KAUFMANN, C.; SANTOS, J.B.

doi:10.1590/S0100-83582019370100054

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Literature Review • Planta daninha 37 • 2019 • https://doi.org/10.1590/S0100-83582019370100054 linkcopy

Remediation of Soils Contaminated by Pesticides Using Physicochemical Processes: a Brief Review

Remediação de Solos Contaminados por Agrotóxicos Utilizando Processos Físico-Químicos: Breve Revisão

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT:

After years of pesticide application, often indiscriminately, damage has been caused to the environment, as well as to agronomic crops grown in contaminated areas. In water treatment, techniques based on physical and/or physicochemical processes are used, being formed secondary oxidizing agents responsible for the mineralization of contaminants present in the herbicides, thus causing the degradation process. However, few studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of these techniques in soils. The aim of this study was to review the existing studies, presenting the main techniques used for remediation of soils contaminated with pesticides. Emphasis was placed on electrokinetics, advanced oxidative processes, soil washing, chemical or solvent extraction, and combinations of these methods. According to the results of several studies, the combination of techniques, such as electrokinetics and soil washing processes, allows achieving a high efficiency when it is applied for the degradation of agricultural contaminants. The combination of electrolysis with other methods, such as the Fenton’s reagent, ultrasound irradiation, and UV light, also present satisfactory results in removing pesticides in soil treatment. However, Fenton technology used alone is the most promising of the assessed techniques since it can be used for the remediation of several contaminants, especially pesticides, not harming the environment and allowing soil recovery.

Keywords:
soil remediation; environmental sustainability; agricultural contaminants

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Sociedade Brasileira da Ciência das Plantas Daninhas Departamento de Fitotecnia - DFT, Universidade Federal de Viçosa - UFV, 36570-000 - Viçosa-MG - Brasil, Tel./Fax::(+55 31) 3899-2611 - Viçosa - MG - Brazil
E-mail: rpdaninha@gmail.com

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[TFN1] (1)Gomes et al. (2012); (2)Cheng et al. (2016a); (3)Villa et al. (2010); and (4)Ren et al. (2014).

Method	Pollutant	Condition	Better removal results (%)	Reference
Pb/Fe nanoparticles stabilized in carboxymethylcellulose and electrokinetics	Pentachlorophenol	Anolyte and catholyte: 0.025 M Na₂SO₄ and 0.025 Na₂CO₃, pH 8.0; Center: nano-CMC stabilized Pb/Fe, pH 5-6; 14 days	70%	Yuan et al. (2012)
Electrokinetics-Fenton and hydrogen peroxide	Pyrimethanil	H₂O₂ (10% w/v), 0.1M NaSO₄, 3 V/cm, 27 days, 0.2M citric acid to maintain the pH at 5.0	59%	Bocos et al. (2015)
Electrokinetics and bamboo activated carbon	2,4-dichlorophenol	10.5 days; inversion of polarity at 24 h intervals; electrodes: 0.01M KNO₃; 1.0 V/cm	76%	Ma et al. (2010)
Nanoscale of zero valence iron (nZVI)	DDT	Use of two types of Fe (type B, produced using borohydride precipitation, and type T, produced by reduction of the gaseous phase of iron oxides into H₂)	Soil paste - nZVIB (22.4%); nZVIT (9.2%)/ Soil column - nZVIB (25.4%)/ nZVIT (not significant)	ElTemsah, et al. (2016)
Hytrel polymer adsorption and polymer regeneration solvent extraction (methanol)	4-chlorophenol (4CP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP)	5% w/w Hytrel polymer (polymer/soil ratio), 25 ^oC and 24 hours. 4CP with 500 rpm PCP with 320 rpm	97% (4CP) and 80% (PCP)	Angelucci and Tomei (2015)
Non-thermal pulsed discharge plasma and TiO₂ photocatalysis	p-nitrophenol	Pulse frequency of 100 Hz; capacitance of 200 pF; energy input of 0.023 J; impulse voltage of 20 kV; 10% moisture; air injection of 0.5 L min^-1; 2% TiO₂ by weight of soil; 10 min reaction	88.8%	Wang et al. (2011)
Electrokinetics-nZVI	Molinate		97.5%	Gomes et al. (2014)
Photocatalysis - biological treatment	Chlorothalonil	pH 7.0; 30 ^oC; CDS-8 bacteria (Pseudomonas sp.); disturbed soil; 20 mg kg^-1 TiO₂	97.55%	Wu et al. (2016)
Soil washing with tetrapolyphosphate and zero valence iron ZVI/Air	Pentachlorophenol	2 mmol/L tetrapolyphosphate and 48 h; pH 11; 5 g/L ZVI, air flow at a rate of 1.5 L min^-1; 25 ^oC; 180 min	85.1%	Cao et al. (2015)
Soil washing with co-doped La-B and photocatalysis with TiO₂ nanoparticles	Hydrophobic pentachlorophenol			Li et al. (2011)

Technique	Advantage	Disadvantage
Fenton⁽²⁾	- Do not transfer pollutants from one phase to another (as in chemical precipitation and adsorption); - Do not produce massive quantities of hazardous sludge; - Easy to implement; - Able to degrade a wide range of contaminants (including agrochemicals) - By-products are generally harmless or biodegradable; - Iron is highly abundant and non-toxic; - Treatment time shorter than other techniques; - Insensitive to external disturbances, e.g. contaminant load; - Heat released from reactions improves the mass transfer, reaction rate, and microbial activity.	- Reduction of soil pH; - A large amount of oxidant is required for soil with a high organic matter content or additional substances; - Harmless organic materials in soils can also be oxidized throughout the oxidation; - The oxidizing agent must be introduced near the contaminated areas; - Immobilization of inorganic reactive species on the treatment wall.
Heterogeneous photocatalysis using TiO₂ ⁽²⁾	- Safety; - High photocatalytic activity; - Low cost.	- Only occurs on the soil surface; - Removal efficiency decreases as the soil layer becomes thicker; - Lack of visible light activity; - The use of a UV lamp can be expensive due to the limited lamp life.
Plasma oxidation⁽²⁾	- Able to remove almost completely the pollutants from the soils in minutes; - It is possible to treat soils with pollutants of high concentration.	- Some active species of short duration would disappear before entering the soil layer and participate in the degradation of pollutants; - High energy densities are required to treat a heavily polluted soil.
Ozonation⁽²⁾	- Rapid treatment time; - High degradation efficiency.	- Suitable only for the treatment of soils with a low moisture content.
Soil washing⁽³⁾		- Contaminants are not destroyed and an additional treatment is required to remove the target compounds from wastewater.
Soil washing combined with photo-Fenton⁽³⁾	- Efficiently removes several contaminants from soil.
Electrokinetics⁽¹⁾	- Strict control over the direction of water movement and dissolved contaminants; - Retention of contaminants within a confined area; - Low energy consumption; - Possibility of treating soils of low permeability, inaccessible to other remediation techniques.
Electrokinetics combined with surfactants⁽¹⁾	- Decrease the surface tension of the liquid; - Improve contaminant solubility.	- The consumption of surfactants depends on their type and other environmental factors.
Electrokinetics combined with cyclodextrins⁽¹⁾	- Chemical stability and reliable electro-osmotic flow.	- The inclusion compounds between complexing agents and organochlorines may be less soluble.
Electrokinetics combined with soil pH control⁽¹⁾	- Maintain the pH of the anolyte and catholyte within appropriate intervals.	- Depending on the method used to control the pH, the addition of some acids may represent environmental problems.
Electrokinetics combined with Fenton⁽⁴⁾	- Low concentrations of iron in the solution; - Easy recycling of the iron catalyst; - Self-regulating capacity of iron ion concentration.	- pH scale typically sharp and preferable (i.e. 3-5 in most cases).
Electrokinetics combined with permanganate oxidant⁽⁴⁾	- High oxidation potential; - Great stability; - Strong ability to oxidize a variety of organic chemicals; - Efficacy over a wide range of pH; - Easy to distribute and detect its color.	- Production of Mn²⁺, which may result in the formation of precipitated MnO₂.
Electrokinetics combined with ozone⁽⁴⁾	- Generation of water-soluble products; - Better bioavailability.	- Great harm to human health if leaks occur.