Capacity of Fungal Genera Isolated from Refinery Effluents to Remove and Bioaccumulate Lead, Nickel and Cadmium from Refinery Waste

Abstract

Laboratory experiments were carried out to determine the capacity of isolates of five species of Aspergillus, and one species each of Penicillium, Curvularia and Fusarium in the removal of Lead (Pb), Nickel (Ni) and Cadmiuum (Cd) from broth cultures charged with raw refinery effluents. The concentrations of the three metals in the raw effluent and tissues of the fungi tested were determined before and after the mycoremediation studies using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AA240FS). Both the percentage of the target metals removed and bioaccumulated by the test fungi were calculated following standard procedures. It was observed that, A. flavus, A. niger and A. fumigatus were the most efficient in the removal of Pb and Ni while Penicillium species removed the highest percentage of Cd. In terms of their capacity to bioaccumulation the target metals, A. favus, A. niger and A. fumigatus remained the best with respect to Pb and Ni. However, Cd was found to be poorly bioaccumulated by all the isolates tested. It was concluded that, co-cultures of A. flavus, A. niger, A. fumigatus and Penicillium sp could be employed in the remediation of sites contaminated with Pb, Ni and Cd.