Systematic Review and Meta-analysis on the Use of Metal Nanoparticles in the Remediation of As and Pb Contaminated Soils

Abstract

The use of metallic nanoparticles for environmental applications has been of great interest due to their physical and chemical properties, allowing them to act as immobilizing agents in soils contaminated with heavy metals. The objective of this research was to evaluate the efficiency of metal nanoparticles in the remediation of soils contaminated with arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) by means of a systematic review and meta-analysis. For the systematic review, selected research was collected from Scopus, Web of Science and ScienceDirect databases published between January 2010 and September 2020. For the meta-analysis of the included studies, Review Manager 5.4 software (RevMan) was used and the statistical data were interpreted with the value ranges of Higgins & Green (2011), at a 95% confidence interval. The results showed that metal nanoparticles are good adsorbents and reductants that have higher efficiency at sizes smaller than 100 nm. The studies included for the meta-analysis showed a heterogeneity of 60% and 0% for As and Pb, respectively. Finally, it was concluded that metallic nanoparticles are efficient for the remediation of As and Pb contaminated soils, showing removal percentages higher than 80%.