Heavy metals, and in particular copper and cadmium,
exist widely in the industrial effluents such as
those from metallurgy and mining areas (Kabata-Pendias
and Pendias, 2001). Because these metals can accumulate
along the food chain and are not amenable to
biological degradation, methods of treatment are continuously
developed and modified. Among the different
physicochemical processes, adsorption offers the best
prospects for overall treatment, specially for effluents
that contains moderate and low concentrations of metals
(Lehmann et al., 1999). In this way, the election of a
cheap adsorbent would be an important point for the
optimization of a treatment.