Abstract
Heavy metals are chemical elements that have a high density and are toxic even in small amounts. They are resulting products, for the most part, from different industrial activities, from improper disposal of electronic materials such as batteries and computers, and the presence of these compounds in the ecosystem represents a potential risk to human and animal health. Toxicity of heavy metals has become an environmental problem that affects ecosystems through bioaccumulation, representing a serious danger to public health because if improperly disposed cause significant environmental damage. Many strategies have been developed and applied to remediate contaminated areas by metals. In this context, the use of biosurfactants in heavy metals bioremediation has grown significantly, providing a sustainable and promising alternative due to its biodegradability and ecologically correct nature. Several microorganisms of the Candida, Pseudomonas, and Bacillus genera have been studied for biosurfactant production with good biodegradation capacity and efficiency. The role of biosurfactants in the bioremediation of environments contaminated with heavy metals and the mechanism of interaction complexation biosurfactant–metal will be discussed in detail in this chapter, as well as the future perspectives of applications of these biomolecules.
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da Silva, R.R., da Silva, Y.A., de Lima e Silva, T.A., Sarubbo, L.A., de Luna, J.M. (2023). Biosurfactants as an Eco-Friendly Technology in Heavy Metal Remediation. In: Aslam, R., Mobin, M., Aslam, J., Zehra, S. (eds) Advancements in Biosurfactants Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21682-4_12
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