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Removal of heavy metals from tannery effluents of Ambur industrial area, Tamilnadu by Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis

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Abstract

The present study was carried out with the tannery effluent contaminated with heavy metals collected from Ambur industrial area to determine the phycoremediation potential of Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis. Two different concentrations (50 and 100 %) of heavy metals containing tannery effluent treated with A. platensis were analysed for growth, absorption spectra, biochemical properties and antioxidant enzyme activity levels. The effluent treatments revealed dose-dependent decrease in the levels of A. platensis growth (65.37 % for 50 % effluent and 49.32 % for 100 % effluent), chlorophyll content (97.43 % for 50 % effluent and 71.05 % for 100 % effluent) and total protein content (82.63 % for 50 % effluent and 62.10 % for 100 % effluent) that leads to the reduction of total solids, total dissolved solids and total suspended solids. A. platensis with lower effluent concentration was effective than at higher concentration. Treatment with the effluent also resulted in increased activity levels of antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (14.58 units/g fresh weight for 50 % and 24.57 units/g fresh weight for 100 %) and catalase (0.963 units/g fresh weight for 50 % and 1.263 units/g fresh weight for 100 %). Furthermore, heavy metal content was determined using atomic absorption spectrometry. These results indicated that A. platensis has the ability to combat heavy metal stress by the induction of antioxidant enzymes demonstrating its potential usefulness in phycoremediation of tannery effluent.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the VIT University management for providing the infrastructure, constant support and encouragements. The authors also acknowledge Technology Business Incubator (TBI-VIT), sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology, for the atomic absorption spectrometry analysis.

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The authors have declared no conflict of interest.

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    1. School of Bio Sciences and Technology, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, 632 014, India

      S. Balaji, T. Kalaivani, C. Rajasekaran, M. Shalini, S. Vinodhini, S. Sunitha Priyadharshini & A. G. Vidya

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    1. S. Balaji
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    Correspondence to C. Rajasekaran.

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    T. Kalaivani and C. Rajasekaran contributed equally to this work.

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    Balaji, S., Kalaivani, T., Rajasekaran, C. et al. Removal of heavy metals from tannery effluents of Ambur industrial area, Tamilnadu by Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis . Environ Monit Assess 187, 325 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4440-7

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