The 6th Symposium on Electrokinetic Remediation (EREM 2007) was held on June 12-15,2007, in Vigo, Spain. The EREM 2007 provided an opportunity for a wide number of international experts to discuss the state-of-the-art in electrokinetic remediation (EKR) and the new advances and trends of EKR in the treatment and restoration of soils and other solid matrixes polluted with inorganic or organic compounds. During the last century, mismanagement of industrial wastes has resulted in the pollution of industrial sites and the surrounding areas with materials that include inorganic salts, heavy metals, complex organic compounds, etc. At present there are only a few technologies, mainly ex situ methods, which can be applied for the removal of heavy metals and/or organic pollutants from soils and solid wastes. Very often these methods do not succeed, mainly due to the longer treatment time required to obtain a complete cleanup and the high cost involved in their application. For this reason there is a great interest in developing new remediation methods that can be applied in situ. Electrokinetic remediation is considered one of the most promising innovations for in situ soil restoration. This technique relies on the application of a low intensity electric field to a polluted solid matrix (soils, sediments, slurries, solid industrial wastes,...). The action of the electric field mobilizes and transports pollutants out of the solid matrix of different chemical nature, such as heavy metals, inorganic species, polar and non-polar organic compounds. Electrokinetic remediation also has a promising future in the management and valorization of industrial wastes.
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