Arsenic pollution in groundwater

Arsenic is a semi-metal very common in nature. It is present in atmosphere, soil, rocks, in drinking water and even in organisms.

Exposure to arsenic may have serious effects on our health: in fact, acute effects have been documented following short-term exposure, chronic non-carcinogenic effects such as cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological changes; and chronic carcinogenic effects such as skin, liver, or kidney tumors caused by mineral waters with arsenic.

For humans the main source of exposure is represented by intake of polluted mineral waters and it is therefore important to limit the intake through water and food. Arsenic is present in groundwater in areas with geothermal activity and in mountainous areas. In Italy, it is mainly present in the wells of some municipalities in Emilia, Lombardy, Veneto, Alto Adige, Campania, Tuscany and northern Lazio.
Other sources of arsenic may be polluting events following excavation or chemical processing activities.

How can be reduced the content of arsenic in drinking water?

contenuto di arsenico nelle acque minerali Captive Systems’ technology is suitable for the removal of arsenic from large volumes of groundwater or from industrial processes. The specific surface functionalization of the magnetic particles makes them capable of absorbing the arsenic dissolved in the water and, following a separation by electrofilter, to remove it from the treated water

With the transposition of the European Directive 98/83 / EC, which came into force on December 25th 2003 by Legislative Decree 31/01, the expected concentration in water destined for human consumption was reduced from 50 to 10 micrograms per liter, µg / l (or ten milligrams per cubic meter of water).

Captive System’ Technology is suitable for the removal of arsenic below the legal limit value of 10 ppb and has been successfully demonstrated both by treating water containing initial arsenic values ​​of the order of ppm and the order of ppb.