Abstract
Lead accumulation by free and immobilized cyanobacteria, Lyngbya majuscula and Spirulina subsalsa was studied. Exponentially growing biomass was exposed to 1–20mg L−1 of Pb(II) solution at pH 6, 7 and 8 for time periods ranging from 10min to 48h. L. majuscula accumulated 10 times more Pb (13.5mgg−1) than S. subsalsa (1.32mgg−1) at pH 6 within 3h of exposure to 20mg L−1 Pb(II) solution and 76% of the Pb could be recovered using 0.1M EDTA. This chelator (2μM) did not influence Pb accumulation whereas 100μM citrate increased that of S. subsalsa 6- to 8-fold. L. majuscula filaments enmeshed in a glass wool packed in a column removed 95.8% of the Pb from a 5mg L−1 Pb solution compared to free and dead biomass which removed 64 and 33.6% Pb respectively. A 92.5% recovery of accumulated Pb from the immobilized biomass suggests that repeated absorption–desorption is possible.
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