“…Divalent nickel [Ni(II)] is frequently encountered in raw wastewater streams from industrial processes such as nickel mining, metallurgy and electroplating, steel foundries and stainless steel production, electroforming and sintered metal coating production, non-ferrous metal, mineral processing, paint formulation, porcelain enameling, battery and accumulator manufacture, and steamelectric power plants (Pahlavanzadeh et al 2010;Shroff and Vaidya 2011a;Suazo-Madrid et al 2011). Although living organisms require trace amounts of Ni(II) for certain enzyme systems that participate in metabolic reactions such as ureolysis, hydrogen metabolism, methane biogenesis, and acidogenesis (Alomá et al 2012), long-term exposure to high Ni(II) levels may cause acute and chronic health disorders such as skin dermatitis, allergic sensitization, gastrointestinal distress (nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea), pulmonary fibrosis, renal edema, and severe damage to the lungs, kidney, nervous system, and mucous membranes (Borba et al 2006;Vinod et al 2010).…”