Another interesting study of our PhD student Aikaterini Mitzia was published in the Science of the Total Environment (IF=9.8). The paper investigates the efficiency of pyrolysed sewage sludge amendments, denoted as “sludgechars”, for metal(loid) removal from water and remediation of soils. Efficient treatment of sewage sludge may transform waste into stable materials with minimised hazardous properties ready for secondary use. Moreover, sludgechar has multiple environmental benefits including contaminant sorption capacity and nutrient recycling. Five sludgechars were tested for their sorption efficiency for 9 different potentially toxic metal(loid)s (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn). The research further employed the application of the sludgechars in 5 soils from the Czech Republic with various contamination levels and different uses (browfield, agriculture, forest, gardening). The study is an important step towards waste reuse for remediation purposes and promotes sustainability and circular economy.
Mitzia A., Böserle Hudcová B., Vítková M., Kunteová B., Casadiego Hernandez D., Moško J., Pohořelý M., Grasserová A., Cajthaml T., Komárek M., 2024. Pyrolysed sewage sludge for metal(loid) removal and immobilisation in contrasting soils: Exploring variety of risk elements across contamination levels. Science of the Total Environment 918, 170572. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170572
Read the paper here.