Comparative Study of Lead Removal by Extracts of Spinach, Coffee, and Tea

Nichole  Lathan; Shelby  Edwards; Charne  Thomas; Lovell  Agwaramgbo

doi:10.4236/jep.2013.43029

Nichole Lathan, Shelby Edwards, Charne Thomas, Lovell Agwaramgbo^*

Abstract: The use of tea and coffee for the removal of heavy metal from aqueous lead solutions has been reported. However, those studies were limited to expended dry biomass of coffee and tea and the lead concentration in those studies range from 10 - 100 ppm of aqueous lead solution. This study compared the effectiveness of aqueous extracts of instant coffee (IC), coffee ground (CG), coffee bean (CB), Lipton tea (Tea), and spinach puree (SP) in removing lead from 1300 PPM of aqueous lead solution. After 24 hr of agitation at room temperature followed by centrifugation, the lead concentration (in ppm) in the liquid from each reaction tube was analyzed using EPA Method 6010 (Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES)). The results suggest that the order of lead removal was Spinach (99%) > Instant coffee (95%) >Tea (91%), > CG (62%) > CB (59%). In comparing the brewed versus the boiled extracts, the results demonstrated that temperature of the aqueous extract affected the lead removal potential of coffee and tea in decreasing order: IC (95%:79%), > Tea (91%:88%) > CG (62%:53%) > CB (59%:53%).

Keywords: Heavy Metals; Tea; Coffee; Lead Remediation; Water Contamination; Phytoremediation

Cite this paper: N. Lathan, S. Edwards, C. Thomas and L. Agwaramgbo, "Comparative Study of Lead Removal by Extracts of Spinach, Coffee, and Tea," Journal of Environmental Protection, Vol. 4 No. 3, 2013, pp. 250-257. doi: 10.4236/jep.2013.43029.

References

[1] F. M. Johnson, “The Genetic Effect of Environmental lead,” Mutation Research, Vol. 410, No. 2, 1998, pp. 123-140. doi:10.1016/S1383-5742(97)00032-X

[2] S. Tong, “Lead Exposure and Cognitive Development: Persistence and a Dynamic Pattern,” Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health, Vol. 34, No. 2, 1998, pp. 114-118. doi:10.1046/J.1440-1754.1998.00187.x

[3] R. L. Canfield, C. R. Henderson Jr. , D. A. Cory-Slechta, C. Cox, T. A. Jusko and B. P. Lanphear, “Intellectual Impairment in Children with Blood Lead Concentrations Below 10 ?g per Deciliter,” The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 348, 2003, pp. 1517-1526. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa022848

[4] M. L. Miranda, K. Dohyeong, M. A. Galeano, C. J. Paul, A. P. Hull and S. P. Morgan, “The Relationship between Early Childhood Blood Lead Levels and Performance on End-Of-Grade Tests,” Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 115, No. 8, 2007, pp. 1242-1247. doi:10.1289/ehp.9994

[5] L. J. Fewtrell, A. Pruss-Ustun, P. Landrigan and J. L. Ayuso-Mateos, “Estimating the Global Burden of Disease of Mild Mental Retardation and Cardiovascular Diseases from Environmental Lead Exposure,” Environmental Research, Vol. 94, No. 2, 2004, pp. 120-133. doi:10.1016/S0013-9351(03)00132-4

[6] H. Needleman, C. McFarland, R. Ness, S. Fienberg and M. Tobin, “Bone Lead Levels in Adjudicated Delinquents. A Case Control Study,” Neurotoxicology and Teratology, Vol. 24, No. 6, 2003, pp. 711-717. doi:10.1016/50892-0362(02)00269

[7] R. A. Shih, H. Hu, M. G. Weisskopf and B. S. Schwartz, “Cumulative Lead Dose and Cognitive Function in Adults. A Review of Studies that Measured Both Blood Lead and Bone Lead,” Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 115, No. 3, 2007, pp. 483-492. doi:0.1289/ehp.9786

[8] J. L. Lin, D. T. Lin-Tan, K. H. Hsu and C. C. Yu, “Environmental Lead Exposure and Progression of Chronic Renal Diseases in Patients without Diabetes,” New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 348, 2003, pp. 277-286.

[9] M. I. Lone, Z.-L. He, P. J. Stopffella and X.-E. Yang, “Phytoremediationof Heavymetal Polluted Soils and Water: Progresses and Perspectives,” Journal of Zhejiang University Science B, Vol. 9, No. 3, 2008, pp. 210-220. doi:10.1631/jzus.B0710633

[10] R. L. Chaney, M. Malik, Y. M. Li, S. L. Brown, E. P. Brewer, A. J. Scott and A. J. M. Baker, “Phytoremediation of Soil Metals,” Current Opinion in Biotechnology, Vol. 8, No. 3, 1997, pp. 279-284. doi:10.1016/S0958-1669(97)80004-3

[11] D. E. Salt, M. Blaylock, P. B. A. N. kumar, V. Dushenkov, B. D. Ensley, L. Chet and L. Raskin, “Phytoremediation: A Novel Strategy for the Removal of Toxic Metals from the Environment Using Plants,” Biotechnology, Vol. 13, No. 5, 1995, pp. 468-474. doi:10.1038/nbt0595-468

[12] R. K. Sinha, S. Agarwal, K. Chauhan, V. Chandran and B. K. Soni, “Vermiculture Technology: Reviving the Dreams of Sir Charles Darwin for Scientific Use of Earthworms in Sustainable Development Programs,” Technology and Investment, Vol. 1, No. 3, 2010, pp. 155-172. doi:10.4236/ti.2010.13019

[13] P. B. A. N. Kumar, V. Dushenkov, H. Motto and I. Raskin, “Phytoextraction: The Use of Plants to Remove Heavy Metal from Soils,” Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 29, No. 5, 1995, pp. 1232-1238. doi:10.1021/es00005a014

[14] M. M. Lasat, “Phytoextraction of Toxic Metals: A Review of Biological Mechanisms,” Journal of Environmental Quality, Vol. 31, No. 1, 2002, pp. 109-120.

[15] M. Sihl, M. A. Hajabbasi and H. Shareatmadari, “Heavy Metal Extraction Potential of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and Canola Brassica Napus,” Caspian Journal of Environmental Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2005, pp. 35-42.

[16] R. D. Reeves, “Tropical Hyper-Accumulators of Metals and Their Potential for Phytoextraction,” Plant Soil, Vol. 249, No. 1, 2003, pp. 57-65. doi:10.1023/A:1022572517197

[17] R. D. Armstrong, M. Todd, J. W. Atkinson and K. Scott, “Selective Electrodeposition of Metals from Simulated Waste Solutions,” Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, Vol. 26, No. 4, 1996, pp. 379-384. doi:0.1007/BF00251322

[18] T. R. Harper and N. W. Kinham, “Removal of Arsenic from Wastewater Using Chemical Precipitation Methods,” Water Environment Research, Vol. 64, No. 3, 1992, pp. 200-203. doi:10.2175/WER.64.3.2

[19] T. K. Radicic and S. Raicevic, “In Situ Lead Stabilization Using Natural and Synthetic Apatite,” Chemical Industry & Chemical Engineering Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2008, pp. 269-271. doi:10.2298/CICEQ0804269K

[20] T. W. Tee and Abd R. M. Khan, “Removal of Lead, Cadmium, and Zinc by Waste Tea Leaves,” Environmental Technology Letters, Vol. 9, No. 11, 1988, pp. 123-1232. doi:10.1080/09593338809384685

[21] S. S. Ahluwalia and D. Goyal, “Removal of Heavy Metal by Waste Tea Leaves from Aqueous Solutions,” Engineering in Life Sciences, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2005, pp. 158-162. doi:0.1002/elsc.200420066

[22] T. Tokimoto, N. Kawasaki, T. Nakamura, J. Akutagawa and S. Tanada, “Removal of Lead Ions in Drinking Water by Coffee Grounds as Vegetable Biomas,” Journal of Colloid and interface Science, Vol. 281, No. 1, 2005, pp. 56-61. doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2004.08.083

[23] B. MW. P. K. Amarasinghe and R. A. Williams, “Tea Waste as a Low Cost Adsorbent for the Removal of Cu and Pb from Wastewater,” Chemical Engineering Journal, Vol. 132, No. 1-3, 2007, pp. 299-309. doi:10.1016/j.cej.2007.01.016

[24] L. Agwaramgbo, E. Agwaramgbo, C. Mercadel, S. Edwards and E. Buckles, “lead Remediation of Contaminated Water by Charcoal, LA Red Clay, Spinach, and Ustard Green,” Journal of Environmental Protection, Vol. 2, No. 9, 2011, pp. 1240-1244. doi:10.4236/jep.2011.29142

[25] L. Agwaramgbo, C. Thomas, C. Grays, J. Small and T. Young, “An Evaluation of Edible Plant Extracts for the Phytoremediarion of Lead Contaminated Water,” Journal of Environmental Protection, Vol. 3, No. 8, 2012, pp. 722-730. doi:10.4236/jep.2012.38086

[26] M. McDonald, I. Mila and A. Scalbert, “Precipitation of Metal Ions by Plant Polyphenols: Optimal Conditions and Origin of Precipitation,” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Vol. 44, No. 2, 1996, pp. 599-606. doi:10.1021/jf950459q

[27] V. S. P. Chaturvedula and I. Prakash, “The Aroma, Taste, Color and Bioactive Constituents of Tea,” Journal of Medicinal Plants Research, Vol. 5, No. 11, 2011, pp. 2110-2124.

[28] J. W. England, “Coffee and Tea as Precipitants for Poisons,” Sanitarian, Vol. 49, No. 392, 1902, pp. 524-526.