Sustainable mitigation of heavy metals from effluents: Toxicity and fate with recent technological advancements

Abstract

Increase in anthropogenic activities due to rapid industrialization had caused an elevation in heavy metal contamination of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. These pollutants have detrimental effects on human and environmental health. The majority of these pollutants are carcinogenic, neurotoxic, and are very poisonous even at very low concentrations. Contamination caused by heavy metals has become a global concern for which the traditional treatment approaches lack in providing a cost-effective and eco-friendly solution. Therefore, the use of microorganisms and plants to reduce the free available heavy metal present in the environment has become the most acceptable method by researchers. Also, in microbial-and phyto-remediation the redox reaction shifts the valence which makes these metals less toxic. In addition to this, the use of biochar as a remediation tool has provided a sustainable solution that needs further investigations toward its implementation on a larger scale. Enzymes secreted by microbes and whole microbial cell are considered an eco-efficient biocatalyst for mitigation of heavy metals from contaminated sites. To the best of our knowledge there is very less literature available covering remediation of heavy metals aspect along with the sensors used for detection of heavy metals. Systematic management should be implemented to overcome the technical and practical limitations in the use of these bioremediation techniques. The knowledge gaps have been identified in terms of its limitation and possible future directions have been discussed.

Immobilized Enzyme-based Novel Biosensing System for Recognition of Toxic Elements in the Aqueous Environment

“…Conventional analytical techniques for heavy metals detection in water, such as the quantum dot method with fluorescence spectrometry [20], inductively coupled plasmamass spectrometry (ICP-MS) [21], hydride generation atomic absorption spectroscopy (HGAAS) (Arsenic detection in drinking water) [22], graphite furnace AAS [23], X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence [24], have been used for the detection of heavy metals, including arsenic, in drinking water samples and other complex matrices, ICP-MS method is the most common method used. However, despite these techniques being able to detect a low concentration of metals in water samples, low detectable concentration in heavy metals is in a range of 0.3 to 5.81 µg/L [25].…”

Harnessing the Potential of Bacillus altitudinis MT422188 for Copper Bioremediation

“…Heavy metals are one of the most persistent pollutants found on Earth due to their non-biodegradability and tendency to accumulate in the environment, causing harm to our natural ecosystems in the process ( Gaur et al, 2021 ). There are many sources of heavy metals which can take root from natural and anthropogenic origins, with the former including soil run-off, volcanic eruptions, weathering, and erosion ( Soltani-Gerdefaramarzi et al, 2021 ), whereas the latter are anthropogenic sources that stem from several industrial processes such as ore mining, combustion of fossil fuels, and the production of alloys, steel, plastic, dyes, and pigments, respectively ( Selvi et al, 2019 ).…”

Carbon-based catalyst for environmental bioremediation and sustainability: Updates and perspectives on techno-economics and life cycle assessment

“…However, these may also lead to the excessive generation of organic wastes such as agro-industrial wastes, municipal solid wastes, water wastes, food and animal manures and other wastes etc. (Gaur et al, 2021b;Pandey et al, 2021;Sharma et al, 2021Sharma et al, , 2020Vyas et al, 2022b). Therefore, utilization of organic wastes for biochar production is considered viable for addressing such issues and is being focused around the world for its possible benefits (Table 1) (Gabhane et al, 2020;Ghodake et al, 2021).…”