Electrokinetic Remediation for Environmental Security and Sustainability

3Combined Use of Remediation Technologies with Electrokinetics

Helena I. Gomes¹ and Erika B. Bustos²

Food, Water, Waste Research Group, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico en Electroquímica, S.C. Parque Tecnológico Querétaro, Sanfandila, 76703 Querétaro, Mexico

3.1 Introduction

Soil is a non‐renewable natural resource at the human scale and is essential for our survival as a species, as soils provide food for a growing future population [1]. Contamination is one of the threats to soil quality and can be caused by improper solid waste management, leachates from mismanaged landfills, unsafe storage of hazardous chemicals and nuclear waste, and uncontrolled dumping of municipal waste, industrial plants, and mining. A systematic assessment of the status of soil pollution at a global level has never been undertaken, despite agricultural intensification, industrial output, and urbanization continuing at a rapid pace [2]. Soil contamination by potentially toxic elements (e.g. arsenic, lead, and cadmium), persistent organic chemicals like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and pharmaceuticals (such as antibiotics or endocrine disruptors) poses severe direct risks to human health [3].

Electrokinetic and electrodialytic remediation are technologies based on the application of low‐level direct current to induce mechanisms that allow the transport ...