Chelation technique for the removal of heavy metals (As, Pb, Cd and Ni) from green mussel, Perna viridis

Present research was carried out to study the efficiency of chelation method to remove heavy metals like arsenic (As), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and nickel (Ni) from P. viridis. Chelation method was studied using three types of chelating agents, namely trisodium citrate, disodium oxalate and sodium acetate. Metals concentrations were analysed using ICP-MS technique. Results showed that the sodium acetate gave the highest percentage removal of heavy metals (As 59.50%, Pb 88.57%, Cd 68.01% and Ni 79.67%) followed by disodium oxalate (As 46.89%, Pb 85.46%, Cd 60.41% and Ni 47.80%) and trisodium citrate (As 38.13%, Pb 68.90%, Cd 70.49% and Ni 36.92%). The findings showed that sodium acetate was able to chelate and remove all the studied heavy metals to levels below the permissible limit set forth by Malaysian Food Regulations (1985) and EU Commission Regulation (2006).