Biosorption of lead by Bacillus cereus isolated from industrial effluents

Abstract

Aims: To study the biosorption of lead ions from soln. using Bacillus cereus isolated from industrial effluents collected from Peenya industrial area, Bangalore, India and to det. the optimum conditions for biosorption. Study Design: Exptl. study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Microbiol. and Biotechnol., Bangalore University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, between Oct. 2008 and Dec. 2009. Methodol.: Sixty bacterial strains were isolated from industrial effluents collected from Peenya industrial area. Among the sixty isolates only six were selected for further investigation due to their high min. inhibition concn. for lead. Lead biosorption studies were carried out for all the six isolates using at. absorption spectrometry. The optimum conditions (temp., pH and culture age) for biosorption were detd. for the isolate showing highest lead biosorption. Results: The lead biosorption capability of all six isolates was studied at different concns. of lead (100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 mg​/l)​. The isolate 6 showed highest lead biosorption capability and was identified as Bacillus cereus. Studies on the control of environmental factors revealed that an optimum temp. of 30°C and pH 5, facilitates max. biosorption of lead by 24h old culture of Bacillus cereus. Conclusion: Biosorption is an alternative to traditional physicochem. methods for removing toxic metals from wastewaters. The results of this study are discussed in the light of the biosorption capacity of Bacillus cereus that could be exploited in the bioremediation of lead.