Bioremoval of Some Metals by Living Algae Spirogyra sp. and Spirullina sp. from aqueous solution

Algae have been proven efficient biological vectors for heavy metal uptake. In order to further study their biosorption potential, two strains Spirogyra sp. and Spirulina sp. have been studied under different initial metal concentrations. In recent years, the biosorption processes have been studied extensively using microbial biomass as biosorbent for heavy metal ions removal. In these studies, metal ions removal abilities of various species of bacteria, algae, fungi and yeasts were investigated.The discharge of heavy metals into aquatic ecosystems has become a matter of concern over the last few decades. The biosorption of six metal ions from artificial wastewaters containing single metal ions was investigated in batch experiments.One strain of algae collected from National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), and one strain from natural area tested for Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Selenium (Se) and Zinc (Zn) removal from aqueous solution. The concentration of all the six metal ion species in the absorption medium was varied between 5 and 25 mg/ L. The residual concentration of metals from the absorption medium was determined by using UV spectrophotometer.From the tested algae after seven days of incubation period, the highest percent bioremoval by Spirogyra sp. for Cr (98.23%), Cu (89.6%), Fe (99.73%), Mn (99.6%), Se (98.16%) and Zn (81.53%) respectively. The same by Spirulina sp. for Cr (98.3%), Cu (81.2%), Fe (98.93%), Mn (99.73%), Se (98.83%) and Zn (79%) respectively at 5 mg/L initial metal concentration.