Because typical ion exchange resins used for treating wastewater contain sulfur binding sites and suffer from application limitations, a new ion exchange system was developed by phosphonylating nonwoven polypropylene fabric (PP). These fabrics were phosphonylated for 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 h; amount of phosphorus on phosphonylated PP increased with an increase in phosphonylation time. After hydrolysis, the appropriate phosphonylated sample was placed in a glass column where a europium (EU3+), lead (Pb2+), or mercury (Hg2+) salt solution was passed through the fabrics after an equilibration period of 5 min. Filtrate samples were then analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy for metal concentration. Results showed that metal binding efficiency for EU3+ increased with an increase in phosphonylation time; Pb2+ binding efficiency increased up to 2 h phosphonylation time and then decreased; Hg2+ binding efficiency was practically independent of phosphonylation time. PP fabrics were also sulfonated and tested for binding efficiency to determine if phosphorus was a better binding site than sulfur. By comparing the results from phosphonylated PP and sulfonated PP, data showed that phosphonylated PP bound metal ions at a higher efficiency than sulfonated PP. Also, phosphonylated PP had higher binding efficiencies with EU3+ and pb(2+) than a commercial exchange resin. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.