Bioremediation of Nickel and Iron from Solutions by Non-pathogenic Microorganisms

Abstract

Bioremediation of nickel and iron from artificially introduced solutions by various nonpathogenic microorganisms was tested. The concentration of metal used was 100 mg/L. Viable Pseudomonas species and Bacillus species could remove 56.24 and 56.8% of nickel, respectively. There was 11.1-96.86% removal of iron by viable microorganisms, Aspergillus species with highest and Saccharomyces species with lowest percentage removal. The biosorption technique showed a range of 54.32-87.2% removal of nickel, with highest removal by Bacillus species. The biosorption of iron ranged from 60-100% with highest percentage removal by Aspergillus species. The percentage removal of nickel ranged from 54.8-92.4 and iron removal ranged from 73-95.68% by immobilization technique. The results of the present study indicate that these microorganisms are potential to remove nickel and iron from polluted waters, soils, industrial effluents, agricultural and municipal wastes.