Removal of Pesticide Residues in Aqueous Solution by Adsorption Using Pineapple Peel Activated Carbon

The use of synthetic pesticides in crop protection generates dilute pesticide solution resulting from the cleaning of pesticide application equipment, also known as pesticide rinsate. If not disposed or treated properly, this may result to the contamination of surface water or groundwater. One of the possible management practices for pesticide rinsate is the use of activated carbon as an adsorbent. Activated carbon was prepared from pineapple peel using phosphoric acid through chemical activation. Characterization of the surface morphology through Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) confirmed the successful activation of the carbon. The resulting Pineapple Peel Activated Carbon (PPAC) was utilized as adsorbent in the removal of the carbamate methomyl in the pesticide rinsate. Analysis of the cleaned rinsate using a High-Performance Liquid Chromatograph confirmed the removal of 96.0-98.4% of methomyl residues in a 7.5 mg L-1 methomyl pesticide rinsate using a 0.5-1.0% w/v PPAC:rinsate ratio. This study showed that activated carbon could be successfully prepared from pineapple peel and used as an effective adsorbent for the remediation of pesticide rinsate to prevent the pollution of surface water or groundwater.