The role of algae in bioremediation of organic pollutants

Abstract

The accumulation of organic pollutants in the environment can cause serious problems, affecting negatively the stability of many aquatic ecosystems and can also cause adverse effects to human health and the environment. Organic pollutants are introduced into the aquatic ecosystems as a result of human activities involving agricultural uses, fuel use and industrial discharges, domestic effluents and agricultural runoff. The persistent organic pollutants are toxic substances for environment and human health. Relatively Recently, there has been increasing interest on using bacteria, fungi, plants and algae to remove, degrade, or render harmless organic pollutants in aquatic systems. The algae play an important role in controlling and biomonitoring of organic pollutants in aquatic ecosystems. The use of higher plants and bacteria for bioextraction and bioremediation of heavy metals and organic pollutants have been extensively studied. However, the application of microalgae in restoration of organic-polluted aquatic environment has just started. In this review we present an overview of the potential of microalgae species for phytoremediation of organic pollutants in aquatic ecosystems.

Keywords: Algae, bioremediation, organic pollutants, biodegradation