Sustainable Heavy Metal Removal from Food Processing Wastewater: A Combined Surfactant Extraction and Sawdust Bioadsorption Approach

The study addresses the critical issue of heavy metal contamination in food processing wastewater, exploring a dual-stage remediation strategy that combines surfactant-enhanced extraction with sawdust bioadsorption for removing metals such as cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, and zinc. It aims to quantify metal concentrations, evaluate various surfactant extraction techniques (notably Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate), assess sawdust's adsorption effectiveness, and optimize the integrated process through parameters like pH and surfactant concentration. Analytical methods, including UV-vis spectrophotometry and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS), are used for validation. Findings indicate that surfactants effectively mobilize heavy metals, while sawdust's fibrous structure provides significant adsorption capacity. This combined approach offers enhanced efficiency and sustainability, supporting environmentally friendly metal remediation in food industries and facilitating wastewater reuse and food safety compliance