Currently, there is a rapidly emerging crisis involving the access of clean
drinking water due to the increasing release of various pollutants by industries to the
environment. Industrial wastewater streams contain a wide range of pollutants from
toxic cationic and anionic species, to extremely poisonous organic compounds, which
are very harmful to humans and the environment. Therefore, the development of novel,
efficient, and inexpensive technologies for the decontamination of polluted waters,
soils, and the air is essential. Amongst the variety of techniques that have been
developed to treat contaminated areas in the environment; adsorption-based processes
are believed to be the most simple and effective techniques which largely depend on the
development of efficient adsorbents. Generally, adsorbents based on zeolitic materials
are known to be safe for the health of humans and the well-being of the environment.
To date, many zeolite-based products have been developed to degrade heavy metals and
organic toxins within the environment, and even in the human body. In this paper, some
of the recent achievements of the potential applications of natural zeolites; particularly
their surface modified forms for the removal of anions, cations, and organic pollutants
from contaminated waters and soils will be discussed.
Keywords: Natural zeolite, surfactant modified zeolite (SMZ), VOC removal,
environmental pollution, wastewater treatment, ion exchange, adsorption, heavy
metal, ammonium, radioactive waste.