Biosorption of Selected Heavy Metals by Green Algae, Spirogyra Species and Its Potential as a Pollution Biomonitor

Abstract

In this paper, adsorption features of freshwater green algae as a function of contact time, initial pH and initial metal ion concentrations were studied using model solutions of metal ions with subsequent determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). Green algae samples were employed as bioindicators of selected heavy metals in environmental water samples with determination using FAAS and ICP-OES (inductively-coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry). The optimum pH for cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu) and lead (Pb) biosorption were found to be 5.5, 5.8, 5.9 and 5.0, respectively. The biosorption process follows second order kinetics and is well described by the Langmuir isotherm model. Adsorption capacities were found to be 22.52, 38.19, 35.59 and 94.34 mg/g for Cd, Cr, Cu and Pb, respectively, at contact times of 15-50 minutes and initial metal ion concentrations of 500-700 mg/L. Biomonitoring studies revealed great potential for freshwater green algae as a bioindicator with mean concentration factors in the range of 367-7154 for the selected elements, the uptake being mainly via a metabolically mediated pathway. This work has demonstrated the potential of freshwater green algae as both a biosorbent and a bioindicator for heavy metal pollution in water systems.

Keywords: Green algae, Biosorption, Biomonitoring, Toxic metals, FTIR, ICP-OES.