Heavy Metals Removal Kinetics by Chlorococcum hemicolum and Anabaena PCC 7120

Cadmium, Nickel and Copper removal capacity of two algae viz. Chlorococcum hemicolum and Anabaena PCC 7120 was assessed in short term time series lapse experiments. Metal concentration was selected on the basis of individual metal tolerance limit of the algae. Emphasis was to judge the heavy metal removal capacity and its Kinetics. Three parameters viz. tolerance limit, uptake rate and path were taken for comparison. Results showed that C. hemicolum exhibit different strategy to combat Cd²⁺ and Ni²⁺ stress which may be genetic one. That explains its greater tolerance to these heavy metals, a significant criterion for bioremediation purpose. Anabaena exhibited low tolerance but with higher uptake rates that makes it good bioremediator in terms of turnover of metal per unit biomass.