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Abstract
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Heavy metals are well-known environmental pollutants owing to their toxicity, longevity in the atmosphere, and ability to accumulate in the human body via bioaccumulation. The pollution of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems with toxic heavy metals is a major environmental concern that has consequences for public health. Most heavy metals occur naturally, but a few are derived from anthropogenic sources. Heavy metals are characterized by their high atomic mass and toxicity to living organisms. Most heavy metals cause environmental and atmospheric pollution, and may be lethal to humans. Heavy metals can become strongly toxic by mixing with different environmental elements, such as water, soil, and air, and humans and other living organisms can be exposed to them through the food chain. Therefore, isolation and pre-treartment of heaveymetals and its determination are important. Recently, diverse methods have been reported for extraction and determination of the heavy metals from different matrixes. Solid phase extraction (SPE)[13], thin film microextraction (TFME)[14], liquid-liquid extraction (LLE)[15]are some reported methods to pre-concentration of heavy metals.
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