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Cyanate
Published in Pradyot Patnaik, Handbook of Environmental Analysis, 2017
The formula of cyanate is CNO−. It is a univalent anion formed by partial oxidation of cyanide (CN−). CN−→OCNO−
Biosorption of cyanate by two strains of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii: evaluation of the removal efficiency and antioxidants activity
Published in International Journal of Phytoremediation, 2021
Mostafa M. S. Ismaiel, Yassin M. El-Ayouty, Asmaa H. Al-Badwy
Cyanate compounds are one of the highly toxic chemicals for both the environment and biological systems. They are widely originated from many sources as a result of the anthropogenic activities, as for example the emissions of petrochemicals, application of pesticides, wastewater effluents of electroplating factories, petroleum refining, mining processes as in crushed ores of gold, ore leaching, coal, steel and fibers manufacturing and several other industries (Hamel 2011; Singh and Balomajumder 2017; Liu et al. 2018; di Biase et al. 2020). These toxic compounds are discharged in relatively high concentrations and therefore have to be handled promptly to minimize their direct potential risk on the aquatic organisms, as well as indirectly on terrestrial organisms, including humans, through drinking water or contaminated food-chain sources. Traditionally, the chemical oxidation and chlorination reaction processes were the common chemical methods for the detoxification of cyanate and cyanide compounds (Akcil and Mudder 2003; di Biase et al. 2020). However, these chemically-dependent techniques may have a lot of disadvantages including the potential output of toxic byproducts in addition to the high cost (Srivastava and Muni 2010). For example, the cyanide and other compounds result from mining process may be stored in reservoir or holding ponds for further chemical treatments. During storage, cyanide may be leaked to the nearby soil or reacted with other chemicals to become more toxic as in case of the reaction of cyanide with weak acid to form hydrogen cyanide (di Biase et al. 2020).