Bioaccumulation and Biosorption of Heavy Metals

SEGRETIN, A. B.; PLAZA CAZON J.; DONATI E.R.

Heavy Metals in the Environment: Microorganisms and Bioremediation

Taylor & Francis Group

Año: 2018; p. 93 - 113

Heavy metal pollution is mostly due to human activities, such as mining and metallurgy, and the effects of these metals on the ecosystems are of large economic and public health significance. Since traditional methods of remediation are often ineffective and/or very expensive when used for the removal of heavy metal ions from large volumes of effluents with low concentrations of pollutants, using biological methods for this purpose may offer a potential alternative of remediation processes. Biosorption and bioaccumulation of heavy metals, involve interactions and concentration of metal ions in the living (bioaccumulation) or non?living (biosorption) biomass. In this chapter the advantages and disadvantages of both processes are presented and developed. Due to the high uptake capacity and very cost?effective source of the raw material, biosorption is a promising method for heavy metal remediation. An example of biosorption process is presented as case study on this work. Biosorbent materials being cheap, highly efficient at pollutant uptake and highly available are preferred. For this reason, a widely spread photosynthetic biomat from a geothermal area of Neuquen, in Argentina, is presented in this chapter as a viable candidate to carry out biosorption processes for several metal ions. The potential use of this biomat on wastewater treatment is worth further exploration.