A New Method for the Removal of Toxic Metal Ions from Acid-Sensitive Biomaterial

A new method (competitive adsorption method) for the removal of toxic heavy metals from acid-sensitive biomaterials was proposed and it was applied to the removal of cadmium from the mid-gut gland (MG) of scallop, Patinopecten yessoensis. Insolubilized humic acid, which has been developed in our laboratory, was used as a competitive adsorbent. A metal-complexation model was used to determine the adsorption characteristics of cadmium onto MG. Furthermore, the model was applied to the competitive adsorption system. The results showed that the competitive adsorption method enabled the simultaneous removal of toxic cadmium from both liquid and MG phase under mild acidic condition (pH 5).