Copper and zinc adsorption from bacterial biomass - possibility of low-cost industrial wastewater treatment.

The increasing interest of all stakeholders to achieve environmental protection with socioeconomic development puts pressure on industrial processes for less negative impact on the environment. The use of biomass for wastewater treatment has increased due to its low costs and technical feasibility. The present study aimed the use of biomass from a waste of known polluted area for the adsorption of Zn and Cu in a fixed-bed reactor.

Copper biosorption from an aqueous solution by the dead biomass of Penicillium ochrochloron.

The present study investigated the effect of contact time, the initial concentration of metal ions, and the biomass dose on the Cu(II) biosorption from an aqueous solution using dead biomass of filamentous fungus Penicillium ochrochloron, which was isolated at the Sossego mine, a copper-contaminated site located in Canaã dos Carajás city, Brazil. The Cu(II) biosorption started rapidly and increased gradually until the equilibrium was reached at 20 min. The Cu(II) uptake decreased as the initial Cu(II) concentration increased, reaching the saturation at 200 mg/L.

Isolation of Bisphenol A-Tolerating/degrading Shewanella haliotis Strain MH137742 from an Estuarine Environment.

The human exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) occurs frequently. Once, this compound was one of the highest volume chemicals produced worldwide and used as a plasticizer in many products. However, even at low concentration, it can cause severe damage to the endocrine system because of its endocrine disruptor activity.

Rapid bacteria identification from environmental mining samples using MALDI-TOF MS analysis.

Copper mining has polluted soils and water, causing a reduction of the microbial diversity and a change in the structure of the resident bacterial communities. In this work, selective isolation combined with MALDI-TOF MS and the 16S rDNA method were used for characterizing cultivable bacterial communities from copper mining samples. The results revealed that MALDI-TOF MS analysis can be considered a reliable and fast tool for identifying copper-resistant bacteria from environmental samples at the genera level.