PERSPECTIVES IN THE USE OF BIOPOLYMER COMPOSITES IN MICROBIAL-MEDIATED BIOREMEDIATION OF HEAVY METALS

In recent times, heavy metal pollution has become a major problem worldwide and is reported to have both direct and indirect impacts on the human health. Industrial activity, along with modernization, has caused massive environmental pollution with toxic heavy metals affecting different levels of ecosystems. Conventional approaches available for heavy metal remediation are expensive, non-ecofriendly, and do not meet the criteria of specificity to treat target metals against a background of competing ions and for large scale surface contamination. In recent years, there has been growing research interests on the use of resistant microorganisms that have adapted themselves to adverse environmental conditions in the field of heavy metal bioremediation. Immobilization of metal resistant microorganisms to support carriers such as biopolymers offers several advantages in bioremediation process. This review provides an overview on heavy metal pollution and its serious implications on human health. Further, the review provides insights into the microbe mediated bioremediation process and explores potential application of biopolymer composites for immobilization of microorganisms for the purpose of heavy metal bioremediation.