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Bioremoval of the azo dye Congo Red by the microalga Chlorella vulgaris

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Abstract

Discharge of dye-containing wastewater by the textile industry can adversely affect aquatic ecosystems and human health. Bioremoval is an alternative to industrial processes for detoxifying water contaminated with dyes. In this work, active and inactive biomass of the microalga Chlorella vulgaris was assayed for the ability to remove Congo Red (CR) dye from aqueous solutions. Through biosorption and biodegradation processes, Chlorella vulgaris was able to remove 83 and 58 % of dye at concentrations of 5 and 25 mg L−1, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity at equilibrium was 200 mg g−1. The Langmuir model best described the experimental equilibrium data. The acute toxicity test (48 h) with two species of cladocerans indicated that the toxicity of the dye in the effluent was significantly decreased compared to the initial concentrations in the influent. Daphnia magna was the species less sensitive to dye (EC50 = 17.0 mg L−1), followed by Ceriodaphnia dubia (EC50 = 3.32 mg L−1). These results show that Chlorella vulgaris significantly reduced the dye concentration and toxicity. Therefore, this method may be a viable option for the treatment of this type of effluent.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional for the support to develop this investigation. Hernández-Zamora M. received a post-graduate scholarship from Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Grant no. 204491) for doctoral studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Biotecnología de Microalgas, Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Av. IPN 2508, San Pedro Zacatenco, 07360, Mexico D.F., Mexico

    Miriam Hernández-Zamora & Rosa Olivia Cañizares-Villanueva

  2. Laboratorio de Bioprocesos y Bioproductos, Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Av. IPN 2508, San Pedro Zacatenco, 07360, Mexico D.F., Mexico

    Teresa Ponce-Noyola

  3. Laboratorio de Biocatálisis y Biología Molecular, Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Av. IPN 2508, San Pedro Zacatenco, 07360, Mexico D.F., Mexico

    María del Carmen Montes-Horcasitas

  4. Departamento de Ingeniería Bioquímica, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Prolongación de Carpio y Plan de Ayala s/n, Colonia Santo Tomás, 11340, Mexico D.F., Mexico

    Eliseo Cristiani-Urbina

  5. Laboratorio de Hidrobiología Experimental, Departamento de Zoología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Prolongación de Carpio y Plan de Ayala s/n, Colonia Santo Tomás, 11340, Mexico D.F., Mexico

    Fernando Martínez-Jerónimo

  6. Laboratorio de Bioquímica, Unidad de Morfología y Función, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Los Reyes Iztacala, Av. de los Barrios # 1, 54090, Mexico D.F., Estado de México, Mexico

    Hugo Virgilio Perales-Vela

Authors
  1. Miriam Hernández-Zamora
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  2. Eliseo Cristiani-Urbina
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  3. Fernando Martínez-Jerónimo
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  4. Hugo Virgilio Perales-Vela
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  5. Teresa Ponce-Noyola
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  6. María del Carmen Montes-Horcasitas
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  7. Rosa Olivia Cañizares-Villanueva
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rosa Olivia Cañizares-Villanueva.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Hernández-Zamora, M., Cristiani-Urbina, E., Martínez-Jerónimo, F. et al. Bioremoval of the azo dye Congo Red by the microalga Chlorella vulgaris . Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 10811–10823 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4277-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4277-1

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