Bioremediation of Ni, Al and Pb by the living cells of a resistant strain of microalga

Abstract

The microalgae treatment system is economically and environmentally friendly option of wastewater treatment. However, the effects of heavy metals toxicity on microalgae cells could limit the use of microalgae in the treatment of industrial effluents rich in heavy metals. In the current work, we studied the effect of Ni, Cu, Al, Hg and Pb, added as single metal solutions to the microalgae culture medium, on the growth of twenty indigenous strains belonging to a wide variety of microalgae genera. Ni and Cu metals were the most toxic to the tested strains. A high tolerant strain of the Phacus genera was selected. We determined the effect of multiple combinations of Ni, Al and Pb on the cell growth of the selected strain and on the removal capacity of each metal from the microalgae culture medium. Phacus was able to grow in the multi metal solution (Ni, 5.00 mg/L; Al, 9.94 mg/L and Pb 1.00 mg/L) and to efficiently remove the metals with removal capacity of 8.82 ±0.16 mg/g for Ni, 2.09 ± 0.05 mg/g for Pb and 16.90 ± 0.53 mg/g for Al. The reductions of Ni, Al and Pb concentrations in the media were 66.67, 64.28 and 79.17% respectively.

High cadmium tolerance in Stichoccocus-like microalgae (Tetratostichoccocus sp. P1) from Malaysia

“…The use of microalgae in remediation is superior to conventional physicochemical techniques due to its advantages, such as fast recovery, low cost, high efficiency, and eco-friendliness [5]. For instance, in treating wastewater, phycoremediation produces less sludge, uses less energy, and minimizes greenhouse gas emissions [6].…”