Unveiling the promise of biosorption for heavy metal removal from water sources

Heavy metals represent a significant contributor to water pollution, posing serious environmental and health risks due to human activities and industrialization. The release of heavy metal contaminants into water sources has spurred extensive research into wastewater treatment methods, including precipitation, evaporation, ion exchange, membrane processes, and electroplating. However, these conventional techniques often prove costly, limited in effectiveness, and may inadvertently exacerbate pollution concerns. This review underscores biosorption as a highly promising alternative for effectively removing harmful metal ions from water sources. Biosorption, as a physical technique, capitalizes on mechanisms such as ion exchange, surface complexation, and precipitation, leveraging more economical biological materials as biosorbents. Microorganisms, encompassing bacteria, fungi, algae, and plant products, emerge as pivotal agents in metal biosorption, offering a sustainable and cost-effective approach. There is a growing interest in harnessing local microbiota for biosorption, aiming to mitigate heavy metal contamination in wastewater without adverse environmental impacts. Notably, both living and deceased fungal biomass have garnered attention as cost-effective adsorbents for eliminating heavy metal ions from solutions. The biosorption behavior of fungal biomass presents numerous advantages, warranting further research to fully exploit its potential in wastewater treatment endeavors.