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Background: Humic acids (HAs) have adverse effects on the environment; therefore, they should be removed from the water and wastewater. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the electron beam irradiation for removal of humic acid from aqueous solutions.

Methods: Humic acid was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Company. After preparation of stock solution in alkaline condition, different concentrations of humic acid (10, 25 and 50 mg) were prepared. Study has done at pH= 8 and in different dose rates of 1, 3, 6, 9 and 15 kGy. Then initial absorption of samples was measured at 254 nm using UV-Visible spectrophotometer before and after the irradiation. Excel and SPSS Ver. 18 were used for analyzing the data and drawing graphs.

Results: The results of this study showed that by increasing adsorbed dose from 1 to 15 kGy, the efficiency of HA removal increased and by increasing humic acid concentration from 10 to 50 mg/L, the removal efficiency of humic acid decreased. The results of the kinetic study showed that irradiation of humic acid followed pseudo second-order reaction.

Conclusion: It can be concluded that electron beam irradiation can be a useful technology for the treatment of environmental samples contaminated by humic acid.