Cleansing contaminated seawaters using marine cyanobacteria: evaluation of trace metal removal from the medium

Abstract

The use of microbial biomass in biosorption is already being studied as a potential alternative to (or combined with) conventional processes, where several algae and microorganisms have already shown promising ability to uptake metals. Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are widespread organisms, with specific properties, such as high nutrient removal capacity and tolerance to highly variable conditions which make them well-suited for wastewater and remediation purposes. The main aim of this work was to evaluate the use of a marine cyanobacterium LEANCYA 21 (Synechocystis sp.), collected from the Portuguese southern border, for the removal of selected trace metals when in natural seawater culture medium. It was observed, for the first time, that this particular strain is capable of uptaking Pb, Ni and Zn (at nM levels) from seawater solutions using small amounts of biomass. Uptake values for Pb were up to 90% (0.75 mg g⁻¹ biomass) in 6 h. The specific biosorption curves of Ni and Zn showed that these metals follow a first order kinetics biosorption in batch conditions. Solutions containing multimetals have revealed that Ni uptake is affected by the presence of Pb and Zn. The calculated specific absorption values were high enough to predict a possible application in aquaculture where such low levels of metals may inhibit microalgae growth.

Keywords:

• heavy metal removal
• trace metal speciation
• seawater
• cyanobacteria
• biosorption

Acknowledgments

We thank R. Martins (CIIMAR) for the supply of LEANCYA 21 cyanobacterium biomass. J.P.N. Ribeiro's doctoral grant (SFRH/BD/29857/2006) was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).