Bacterial sorption of heavy metals

Abstract

Four bacteria, Bacillus cereus, B. subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, were examined for the ability to remove Ag+, Cd2+, Cu2+, and La3+ from solution by batch equilibration methods. Cd and Cu sorption over the concentration range 0.001 to 1 mM was described by Freundlich isotherms. At 1 mM concentrations of both Cd2+ and Cu2+, P. aeruginosa and B. cereus were the most and least efficient at metal removal, respectively. Freundlich K constants indicated that E. coli was most efficient at Cd2+ removal and B. subtilis removed the most Cu2+. Removal of Ag+ from solution by bacteria was very efficient; an average of 89% of the total Ag+ was removed from the 1 mM solution, while only 12, 29, and 27% of the total Cd2+, Cu2+, and La3+, respectively, were sorbed from 1 mM solutions. Electron microscopy indicated that La3+ accumulated at the cell surface as needlelike, crystalline precipitates. Silver precipitated as discrete colloidal aggregates at the cell surface and occasionally in the cytoplasm. Neither Cd2+ nor Cu2+ provided enough electron scattering to identify the location of sorption. The affinity series for bacterial removal of these metals decreased in the order Ag greater than La greater than Cu greater than Cd. The results indicate that bacterial cells are capable of binding large quantities of different metals. Adsorption equations may be useful for describing bacterium-metal interactions with metals such as Cd and Cu; however, this approach may not be adequate when precipitation of metals occurs.