Guwahati, Jul 7 (PTI) Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati have uncovered how blue-green algae can remove lead from contaminated water, it said in a release.
“In a first-of-its-kind study, the IIT-Guwahati research team has identified cyanobacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae, that can be used to absorb lead from contaminated water,” the institute said.
The research team was led by Debasish Das, a Professor in the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering.
“A key feature of this approach is the vast availability of these algae in village ponds, lakes, reservoirs, paddy fields and slow-moving freshwater bodies,” the release said.
Based on the research, the team found that the sticky, sugar-rich material found in algae, called exopolysaccharides (EPS), absorbed the highest amount of lead from water.
In controlled laboratory experiments, the EPS, produced by blue-green algae, successfully removed up to 66.2 per cent of toxic lead from contaminated water, it said.
The findings are subject to further validation and should not be interpreted as final or ready for commercial application, IIT-Guwahati said.
“In our recent study, we found that EPS organism can remove lead, one of the most toxic heavy metals, from polluted water. EPS can form associations with fungi to form cyanolichens, enrich soil by fixing nitrogen, and act as a natural biofertiliser to boost agricultural productivity,” Das said.
To understand how the EPS absorbs lead from water, the researchers used different techniques to examine the material’s composition and its interaction with lead.
“They found that naturally occurring chemical groups in the material bind lead particles, making it effective at removing lead from contaminated water. The research team also found that blue-green algae naturally changes its chemical composition to capture lead,” the release said.
The findings have been published in the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering.
The research team now plans to evaluate the performance of EPS using real industrial wastewater containing mixtures of toxic metals, as well as work upon recyclability of the biosorbent, and develop a scalable system that can be used for continuous water treatment. PTI TR RBT
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