Agricultural Waste to Health, Safety and Environment: A critical review

Abstract

The preservation of the environment is very important to the sustainability of all living things and must not be treated with levity because there are consequences, sometimes irreversible. This review focused on the conversion of agricultural waste products to biochar which is the solid carbon-rich product that remains after the pyrolysis process, it has a porous structure and a high surface area, which makes it useful for the adsorption of heavy metals from waste water. Man’s daily activities for survival produces waste water some of which contain heavy metals, these metals contribute heavily to the destruction of the environment due to their toxic nature. Several research works have been consulted in this review and it was observed that biochar is easily accessible because of the abundance of agricultural waste and is very effective in the removal of heavy metals from waste water although the biochar from some waste products is more effective than the other. Further more the study revealed that in addition to the effectiveness of biochar it is a very safe practice and should be encouraged for the sustainability of the environment.