Use of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid as a scavenger for chromium from “wet blue” leather waste: thermodynamic and kinetics parameters

Abstract

One serious consequence of the current consumer society is the transformation of the environment into a waste receptacle arising from human activities. Because of the potential toxic effects of chromium solid waste containing this metal there are grounds for serious concern for the tanning and leather processing industry. The application of tannery waste as organic fertilizer has led to extensive contamination by chromium in agricultural areas and may cause the accumulation of this metal in soils and plants. This work evaluated the extraction of Cr+3 and Cr+6 contained in solid waste from the leather industry through density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The Gibbs free energy calculations reveal that the chelator ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) forms more stable complexes with metal ions of chromium compared with the structures of the complexes [Cr(NTA)(H2O)2] and [Cr-collagen], the latter used to simulate the protein bound chrome leather.