Capacity of Marine Microalga Tetraselmis suecica to Biodegrade Phenols in Aqueous Media

Abstract

Phenolic compounds are toxic and dangerous to the environment and human health. Although the removal of phenols and their derivatives is very difficult, it has been achieved by applying some biological processes. The capacity of microalga to remove phenolic compounds has been demonstrated; however, few reports of the removal of these compounds in a mixture have been published. The removal of phenol, p-cresol and o-cresol was performed by batch kinetics at 50 and 100 mg L−1, and the simultaneous degradation of phenol, p-cresol and o-cresol was carried out in a mixture at 40 mg L−1 using the marine microalga Tetraselmis suecica. The kinetic study was carried out for 192 h. For concentrations of 50 mg L−1 and 100 mg L−1, phenolic compound consumption efficiencies greater than 100% and 85%, respectively, were obtained, and up to 73.6% removal in the mixture. The results obtained indicate that the marine microalga carries out a process of the oxidation of organic matter and phenolic compounds, mineralizing up to 31.4% to CO2 in the mixture. Biological treatments using the marine microalga T. suecica can be considered feasible to treat effluents with concentrations similar to those of the present study.