Study of Barite Effects on the Human Health and Environment and Presentation of Ways to Eliminate or Reduce its Effects by Use of Microorganisms and Zeolite

Soil pollution by metals, semi-metals and organic pollutants is a global serious problem. Industrial and agricultural activities cause the release of toxic and heavy metals in the environment that endanger the ecosystems life and human health. Heavy metals because of their dissolving in the water enter the aquatic ecosystems and cause the destruction of these ecosystems. In addition, after the arriving to food chains threat the health of human and other organisms. Barite is one of these pollutants which in this paper its harmful effects on the human health and environment are mentioned and cases of its uses which can cause these effects has been investigated and finally of eliminating or reducing methods of barite from the environment have been presented. In recent decades, after the increase of environmental pollution by heavy metals scientists’ attention is attracted to biological methods to refine and clean the contaminated water. Microorganisms by different mechanisms are able to absorb and remove the barite and heavy contaminants such as chemical absorption, methylating, sulfurizing and precipitation which each of them with detail have been presented in this paper. Another way to remove these pollutants is the use of zeolite. Utilization of these processes can remove or reduce the harmful effects of heavy contaminants especially barite.