Abstract
Environmental pollution is a major global threat today, with widespread consequences. Industrial effluents, flue gases, automobile emissions, solid waste, agricultural runoff, amongst others, have loaded air, water, and soil with a plethora of undesirable substances harmful for humans and their surroundings. Common pollutants, such as exhaust gases, heavy metals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and many emerging organic and inorganic chemicals, are causing multitude of chronic illnesses. With growing population and rapid industrialization, it is becoming increasingly important to develop efficient, cheap, sustainable, and scalable processes to mitigate these life-threatening pollutants.
Conventional physiochemical methods used for the treatment of industrial, municipal, and agricultural wastewaters and emissions are effective, but they suffer serious drawbacks, such as sludge generation, membrane fouling, and high energy and reagent requirements. This has attracted the use of biological resources in development of sustainable and eco-friendly remediation processes. Microalgae particularly have emerged as a potential microorganism in bioremediation owing to their ability to adsorb, accumulate, and degrade many common pollutants using different mechanisms. Concomitant sequestration of carbon dioxide, generation of oxygen, and accumulation of lipids and carbohydrates with growth are however the real advantages of using microalgae in bioremediation. Moreover, simple and cheap nutritional and cultivation requirements of microalgae make it most suitable bioresource for mitigating pollution. The development of microalgae-based remediation processes is therefore an ambitious goal in environmental biotechnology. This chapter reviews important concepts, developments, challenges, and future prospects of microalgal bioremediation.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Anastopoulos I, Kyzas GZ (2015) Progress in batch biosorption of heavy metals onto algae. J Mol Liq 209:77–86
Baglieri A, Sidella S, Barone V, Fragala F, Silkina A, Negre M, Gennari M (2016) Cultivating Chlorella vulgaris and Scenedesmusquadricauda microalgae to degrade inorganic compounds and pesticides in water. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23:18165–18174
Bilal M, Rasheed T, Sosa-Hernández JE et al (2018) Biosorption: an interplay between marine algae and potentially toxic elements-a review. Mar Drugs 16(2):65
Brennan L, Owende P (2010) Biofuels from microalgae-a review of technologies for production, processing, and extractions of biofuels and co-products. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 14:557–577
Carolin CF, Kumar PS, Saravanan A, Joshiba GJ, Naushad M (2017) Efficient techniques for the removal of toxic heavy metals from aquatic environment: a review. J Environ Chem Eng 5:2782–2799
Crini G, Lichtfouse E (2019) Advantages and disadvantages of techniques used for wastewater treatment. Environ Chem Lett 17:145–155
Davis TA, Volesky B, Mucci A (2003) A review of the biochemistry of heavy metal biosorption by brown algae. Water Res 37:4311–4330
Ebele AJ, Abdallah MA, Harrad S (2017) Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the freshwater aquatic environment. Emerg Contam 3(1):1–16
El-Kassas HY, Mohamed LA (2014) Bioremediation of the textile waste effluent by Chlorella vulgaris. Egypt J Aquat Res 40(3):301–308
Fukuda S, Iwamoto K, Atsumi M et al (2014) Global searches for microalgae and aquatic plants that can eliminate radioactive cesium, iodine and strontium from the radio-polluted aquatic environment: a bioremediation strategy. J Plant Res 127:79–89
Fukuda S, Yamamoto R, Iwamoto K et al (2018) Cellular accumulation of cesium in the unicellular red alga Galdieriasulphuraria under mixotrophic conditions. J Appl Phycol 30:3057–3061
Girijan S, Kumar M (2020) Microbial degradation of pharmaceuticals and personal care products from wastewater. In: Shah M (ed) Microbial bioremediation & biodegradation. Springer, Singapore
Hassaan MA, Nemr AE (2020) Pesticides pollution: classifications, human health impact, extraction and treatment techniques. Egypt J Aquat Res 46(3):207–220
Hultberg M, Bodin H, Ardal E et al (2016) Effect of microalgal treatments on pesticides in water. Environ Technol 37(7):893–898
Hussein MH, Abdullah AM, Din NIBE et al (2017) Biosorption Potential of the Microchlorophyte Chlorella vulgaris for some pesticides. J Fertil Pesticid 8(1):5
Iwamoto K, Shiraiwa Y (2017) Accumulation of cesium by aquatic plants and algae. In: Gupta D, Walther C (eds) Impact of cesium on plants and the environment. Springer, Cham
Koller M, Muhr A, Braunegg G (2014) Microalgae as versatile cellular factories for valued products. Algal Res 6:52–63
Kumar S, Kaushik G, Dar MA et al (2018) Microbial degradation of organophosphate pesticides: a review. Pedosphere 28(2):190–208
Lai W (2017) Pesticide use and health outcomes: evidence from agricultural water pollution in China. J Environ Econ Manag 86:93–120
Lee KY, Lee SH, Lee JE et al (2019) Biosorption of radioactive cesium from contaminated water by microalgae Haematococcuspluvialis and Chlorella vulgaris. J Environ Manag 233:83–88
Lim SL, Chu WL, Phang SM (2010) Use of Chlorella vulgaris for bioremediation of textile wastewater. Bioresour Technol 101(19):7314–7322
Matamoros V, Uggetti E, GarcÃa J, Bayona JM (2016) Assessment of the mechanisms involved in the removal of emerging contaminants by microalgae from wastewater: a laboratory scale study. J Hazard Mater 15(301):197–205
Mendonça HV, Ometto JPHB, Otenio MH et al (2018) Microalgae-mediated bioremediation and valorization of cattle wastewater previously digested in a hybrid anaerobic reactor using a photobioreactor: comparison between batch and continuous operation. Sci Total Environ 633:1–11
Morehead MS, Scarbrough C (2018) Emergence of global antibiotic resistance. Prim Care 45(3):467–484
Nagi M, He M, Li D et al (2020) Utilization of tannery wastewater for biofuel production: new insights on microalgae growth and biomass production. Sci Rep 10:1530
Oliveira AC, Barata A, Batista AP et al (2019) Scenedesmusobliquus in poultry wastewater bioremediation. Environ Technol 40(28):3735–3744
Pena ACC, Bertoldi CF, Fontoura JT et al (2019) Consortium of microalgae for tannery effluent treatment. Braz Arch Biol Technol 62:e19170518
Pradhan D, Sukla LB (2019) Removal of radon from radionuclide-contaminated water using microalgae. In: Sukla L, Subudhi E, Pradhan D (eds) The role of microalgae in wastewater treatment. Springer, Singapore
Prakash D, Gabani P, Chandel AK et al (2013) Bioremediation: a genuine technology to remediate radionuclides from the environment. Microb Biotechnol 6(4):349–360
Salih F (2011) Microalgae tolerance to high concentrations of carbon dioxide: a review. J Environ Prot 2(5):648–654
Saranya D, Shanthakumar S (2019) Green microalgae for combined sewage and tannery effluent treatment: performance and lipid accumulation potential. J Environ Manag 241:167–178
Shah A, Shah M (2020) Characterisation and bioremediation of wastewater: a review exploring bioremediation as a sustainable technique for pharmaceutical wastewater. Groundw Sustain Dev 11:100383
Shah MP, Rodriguez-Couto S, Sevinç Şengör S (2020) Emerging technologies in environmental bioremediation. Elsevier, Amsterdam
Singh J, Dhar DW (2019) Overview of carbon capture technology: microalgal biorefinery concept and state-of-the-art. Front Mar Sci 6:29
Singh SP, Singh P (2014) Effect of CO2 concentration on algal growth: a review. Renew Sust Energ Rev 38:172–179
Singh S, Pradhan D, Sukla LB (2019) Microalgae: gizmo to heavy metals removal. In: Sukla L, Subudhi E, Pradhan D (eds) The role of microalgae in wastewater treatment. Springer, Singapore
Snyder SA (2008) Occurrence, treatment, and toxicological relevance of EDCs and pharmaceuticals in water. Ozone Sci Eng 3:65–69
Sutherland DL, Ralph PJ (2019) Microalgal bioremediation of emerging contaminants - opportunities and challenges. Water Res 164:114921
Tchounwou PB, Yedjou CG, Patlolla AK et al (2012) Heavy metal toxicity and the environment. Experientia Suppl 101:133–164
Tossavainen M, Lahti K, Edelmann M et al (2019) Integrated utilization of microalgae cultured in aquaculture wastewater: wastewater treatment and production of valuable fatty acids and tocopherols. J Appl Phycol 31:1753–1763
United Nations Environment Programme (2001) Marine liter: trash that kills. Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, UNEP GPA Coordination Office, Stockholm, The Hague. Accessed 11 Oct 2020
Viegas C, Gonçalves M, Soares L et al (2016) Bioremediation of agro-industrial effluents using chlorella microalgae. In: Camarinha-Matos LM, Falcão AJ, Vafaei N, Najdi S (eds) Technological innovation for cyber-physical systems. 7th IFIP WG 5.5/SOCOLNET Advanced Doctoral Conference on Computing, Electrical and Industrial Systems, DoCEIS 2016, Costa de Caparica, Portugal, April 11-13, 2016, vol 470. Springer, Cham
Wang Y, Stessman DJ, Spalding MH (2015) The CO2 concentrating mechanism and photosynthetic carbon assimilation in limiting CO2: how Chlamydomonas works against the gradient. Plant J 82:429–448
World Health Organization (2018) Ambient (outdoor) air pollution. WHO, Geneva. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health. Accessed 11 Oct 2020
World Health Organization (2019) Drinking water. WHO, Geneva. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water. Accessed 12 Oct 2020
World Wildlife Fund (2018) Wildlife in a warming world: the effects of climate change on biodiversity. World Wildlife Fund, Gland. https://www.worldwildlife.org/publications/wildlife-in-a-warming-world-the-effects-of-climate-change-on-biodiversity. Accessed 11 Oct 2020
Xiong JQ, Kurade MB, Jeon BH (2018) Can microalgae remove pharmaceutical contaminants from water? Trends Biotechnol 36(1):30–44
Yuvraj, Padmanabhan P (2017) Technical insight on the requirements for CO2-saturated growth of microalgae in photobioreactors. 3 Biotech 7:119
Yuvraj, Vidyarthi AS, Singh J (2016) Enhancement of Chlorella vulgaris cell density: shake flask and bench-top photobioreactor studies to identify and control limiting factors. Korean J Chem Eng 33:2396–2405
Zenker A, Cicero MR, Prestinaci F et al (2014) Bioaccumulation and biomagnification potential of pharmaceuticals with a focus to the aquatic environment. J Environ Manag 133:378–387
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Yuvraj (2022). Microalgal Bioremediation: A Clean and Sustainable Approach for Controlling Environmental Pollution. In: Arora, S., Kumar, A., Ogita, S., Yau, Y.Y. (eds) Innovations in Environmental Biotechnology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4445-0_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4445-0_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-16-4444-3
Online ISBN: 978-981-16-4445-0
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)