Effect of Heavy Metals on the Solidification of Cementitious Materials

Solid waste disposal has become a great concern in most of industrialized cities of the world because of the availability of limited landfills and strict environmental standards. These toxic wastes, containing heavy metal ions namely copper, lead, arsenic, chromium, zinc etc., may contaminate soil and surface as well as ground water sources. This waste is generated from metallurgical, mining, chemical, leather industry, distillery, sugar, battery, electroplating and pigment industry. Generally the metal concentrations in these wastes are too low for economic recovery; but high enough to represent toxicity hazards. Solidification/stabilization technique has been used effectively to immobilize heavy metal containing wastes.