The Use of Some Species of Bacteria and Algae in the Bioremediation of Pollution Caused by Hydrocarbons and Some Heavy Metals in Al Asfar Lake Water

Fatimah Altammar, Nermin El Semary () and Munirah Aldayel
Additional contact information
Fatimah Altammar: Biological Sciences Department, College of Science, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Nermin El Semary: Biological Sciences Department, College of Science, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia
Munirah Aldayel: Biological Sciences Department, College of Science, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa 31982, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 18, 1-11

Abstract: Pollution is the biggest environmental and health threat in the world. Conventional treatments of polluted habitats require the removal of pollutants contaminating the environment, but removal methods are costly and involve high power consumption. This research aims to investigate the potential for bioremediation and proposes an alternative source for implementing it that is cheaper and more environmentally friendly. The phycobioremediation experiment used hydrocarbon- and heavy-metal-polluted water from Al Asfar Lake, AlAhsa, KSA. The isolation and characterization of the lake’s predominant microalgae and associated bacteria were carried out. Monoalgal cultures of the dominant genera of algae were employed for the treatment of contaminated water and soil samples. The concentrations of the heavy metals and hydrocarbons in these samples were determined before and after the treatments by using atomic absorption spectroscopy (for heavy metals) and gas chromatography (for hydrocarbons). From the initial assessments, the levels of manganese, copper, and chromium were high, with chromium being the highest. Three microalgal isolates were identified: two coccoid, with one being blue-green and the other green, and one filamentous cyanobacterium. These species were the most efficient in removing heavy metals and dangerous hydrocarbons. Molecular characterization revealed Chlorella sp. and Geitlarianema sp. to be the most promising for bioremediation. The present work sheds light on the prospect of using algal and bacterial consortia for optimized, safe, and eco-friendly pollution amelioration.

Keywords: microalgae; bioremediation; bacteria; environmental cleanup; hydrocarbons; heavy metals; Al Asfar Lake (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/7896/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/18/7896/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:18:p:7896-:d:1475118

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().