Pine-needle biochar seems to be an effective agent for stripping lead from water
birds with one stone is a desirable objective, but rarely an achievable one. However, Dinesh Mohan of Nehru University, in Delhi, thinks he may have worked out how to do it in the case of a pair of local environmental problems. One is the risk of fire in the pine forests cloaking the foothills of the Himalaya. The other is pollution by heavy metals, particularly lead, of some of the country’s water supply.
The pollution risk comes from lead derived from fuels, old water pipes and paint. Heavy-metal pollution is by no means the only water-quality problem facing India, but it is one of the most pernicious. Like many other countries, India has adopted the maximum level in drinking water for lead set by the World Health Organisation . This is ten micrograms per litre.
Many heavy-metal ions react enthusiastically with certain oxygen-containing groups of atoms that form parts of the organic molecules, and thus stick to them. They also, through a process called ion exchange, swap places with potassium, magnesium and calcium ions. The upshot is that biochar is good at pulling pollutants like lead out of water.
Experiments suggested that material charred at 550°C extracted lead most efficiently, and examination showed that this material had the largest internal surface area per gram , and the optimal level of carbonisation needed to preserve the metal-capturing organic compounds.
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