ABSTRACT

Soils and rivers have become heavily polluted with heavy metals due to rapid industrialization and anthropogenic practices such as the unmanaged use of agro-chemicals, fossil fuel burning and disposal of sewage sludge. Heavy metals are non-biodegradable and remain in the atmosphere. To avoid heavy metal leaching or mobilization into environmental segments and to encourage their extraction, remediation is therefore necessary. Several scientific studies on the bioremediation of heavy metals using microorganisms have been performed. There is, however, a lack of knowledge on the use of synergistic heavy metal resistant bacteria and fungi for heavy metal bio-remediation. In areas with low metal toxicity, traditional and physical methods are costly and not reliable. Heavy metal exposure does significant harm to the natural ecosystem leading to numerous health risks to humans and plants. While most bacteria are usually toxic to heavy metals, there are some bacteria that are heavy metal tolerant and can grow in their presence, once established, heavy metal tolerant bacteria are used for Bioremediation. Bioremediation is thus an eco-friendly and effective way of reclaiming habitats polluted with heavy metals by making use of the intrinsic biological processes of microorganisms and plants to remove dangerous pollutants. The present work briefly describes the presence of heavy metals in the atmosphere and, as stated in the review literature, methods for using microorganisms for bioremediation processes. Keyword: Bioremediation, Heavy metals, Environmental hazard, Pollutants, Eco-friendly
Publication date: 01/01/2022

https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2022/January/MS_IJBPAS_2022_5828.pdf

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https://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2022/11.1.5828