Bio-sorbents: A Novel Technology to Mitigate Heavy Metal Pollution

Abstract

The health of living beings is seriously threatened by the toxicity and bioaccumulation tendency of heavy metals in the environment. Heavy metals cannot be broken down by chemical or biological processes, unlike organic pollutants. They can therefore only be changed into less dangerous species. Heavy metal pollution of the environment has gone above the advised level and is harmful to all life forms. The process of using microorganisms to absorb, precipitate, oxidize, and reduce heavy metals in soil is known as "microbial remediation." The term "bio-sorption" refers to "the ability of biological materials to accumulate heavy metals from waste water through metabolically mediated or physico-chemical pathway of uptake." It has been demonstrated that fungi, yeast, algae, and bacteria are potential metal-biosorbents. To adequately address the major issues involved, a sustainable method must be devised to choose the best bio-sorbent, operating conditions, and effective mechanism of heavy metal removal in industrial effluent.