Insights into the biogeochemical transformation, environmental impacts and biochar-based soil decontamination of antimony

Rabia Safeer; Guijian Liu; Balal Yousaf; Aniqa Ashraf; Muhammad Irtaza Sajjad Haider; Ayesha Imtiyaz Cheema; Samra Ijaz; Audil Rashid; Anila Sikandar; Krzysztof Pikoń

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2024.118645

Insights into the biogeochemical transformation, environmental impacts and biochar-based soil decontamination of antimony

Environ Res. 2024 Mar 13;251(Pt 2):118645. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118645. Online ahead of print.

Affiliations

¹ CAS-Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, PR China.
² CAS-Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, PR China. Electronic address: lgj@ustc.edu.cn.
³ Department of Technologies and Installations for Waste Management, Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, 44 -100, Gliwice, Poland.
⁴ Botany Department, Faculty of Science, University of Gujrat, Hafiz Hayat Campus, Gujrat, 50700, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Environmental Science, Kunming University of Science and Technology, 650500, Yunnan, PR China.

PMID: 38485077
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118645

Abstract

Every year, a significant amount of antimony (Sb) enters the environment from natural and anthropogenic sources like mining, smelting, industrial operations, ore processing, vehicle emissions, shooting activities, and coal power plants. Humans, plants, animals, and aquatic life are heavily exposed to hazardous Sb or antimonide by either direct consumption or indirect exposure to Sb in the environment. This review summarizes the current knowledge about Sb global occurrence, its fate, distribution, speciation, associated health hazards, and advanced biochar composites studies used for the remediation of soil contaminated with Sb to lessen Sb bioavailability and toxicity in soil. Anionic metal(loid) like Sb in the soil is significantly immobilized by pristine biochar and its composites, reducing their bioavailability. However, a comprehensive review of the impacts of biochar-based composites on soil Sb remediation is needed. Therefore, the current review focuses on (1) the fundamental aspects of Sb global occurrence, global soil Sb contamination, its transformation in soil, and associated health hazards, (2) the role of different biochar-based composites in the immobilization of Sb from soil to increase biochar applicability toward Sb decontamination. The review aids in developing advanced, efficient, and effective engineered biochar composites for Sb remediation by evaluating novel materials and techniques and through sustainable management of Sb-contaminated soil, ultimately reducing its environmental and health risks.

Keywords: Antimony (Sb); Biochar composites; Sb immobilization; Soil contamination; Soil remediation.

Publication types

Review