Abstract

AN OVERVIEW OF HEAVY METAL POLLUTION, TOXICITY, AND BIOREMEDIATION

Sourav Pradhan*, Souptik Ghosh, Dr. Manas Chakraborty and Dr. Sruti Bagchi Ghosh

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Abstract

Due to the harmful results of ongoing environmental pollution, heavy metal contamination poses a significant threat to all kinds of life. Some heavy metals (HM) are essential for the growth and development of life in limited amounts. Most of them are toxic, and even essential heavy metal in high concentration causes serious consequences. Due to rapid industrialization, the range of HM in the environment increases with time. HM is non-biodegradable so it stays in the environment for a long time and spreads long-term toxic effects. Remediation of HM by conventional method is not only time-consuming but also costeffective, to overcome this problem biotechnology shows a powerful tool termed Bioremediation. Bioremediation is a method by which to use specific microorganism biodegradation of HM or convert the toxic material into nontoxic. Specific HM is biodegradable to specific microorganisms such as Lead (Pb) is biodegradable to B. megaterium, and Cadmium (Cd) biodegraded by B. subtilis & Pseudomonas aeruginosa. S. cerevisiae, C. glutamicum can biodegrade Arsenic (As). This review provides the occurrence of HM, the toxic effect of HM in humans and plants, and the bioremediation of HM by microbes. Among various microbes, bacteria are highly capable to biodegrade HM and further research needs to explore this field.

Keywords: Bioremediation, Biodegradable, Heavy metal, Pollutants, Microorganisms, Toxic effect.