Phycoremediation: A sustainable alternative in wastewater treatment (WWT) regime

Abstract

Wastewater (WW) generated from the industries, agricultural and domestic activities produce high amounts of nutrients, heavy metals (HMs) and chemicals that degrades the environmental assets like land, air, water and culminates in human and animal health hazards. The conventional techniques of remediation are inefficient and eco-hazardous compared to the non-conventional which are cost-effective, reliable and ecofriendly. The utilization of biological agents for the remediation of natural assets is known as bioremediation. Phycoremediation (a bioremediation technique) strategies cater to the possibility of using algal diversity to remediate hazardous contaminants (hydrocarbons, pesticides, radioactive matter, HMs etc.) while also valorizing the treated biomass for the manufacture of value-added goods (fertilizers, biofuel etc.). Apart from being a carbon sink, algae have a significant surface-to-volume ratio, for biosorption (due to metal-binding groups on cell surfaces), bioconcentration, and biotransformation of pollutants. After reviewing the extant literature (170 publications), we conclude that in future phycoremediation shall bring in a radical change in the existing wastewater treatment (WWT) regimes for the benefit of mankind through the concept of circular economy. Meticulous studies and joint efforts of the academia and industries should focus on developing and conserving hyperaccumulator microalgal strains and fully exploit their remediation potential against emerging wastewater (WW) contaminants to attain sustainability in the health and environment sector.