Removal of Heavy Metals from Leather Industry Effluent Using Saccharomyces sp in a Packed Bed Reactor

Environmental metal toxicity is a hazard of increasing significance because of the constant deposition of these pollutants in the biosphere as a result of heavy industrialization like leather industries. Ranipet industrial area is a chronic polluted area identified by Central pollution control board of India .It is one of the biggest exporting centers of tanned leather in India. The concentration levels of metals are much above the permissible limits in surface water and are health hazards especially for the people working in the tannery industries. This project highlights the potential of yeast Saccharomyces sp immobilized by using sodium alginate and calcium chloride encapsulating the microorganism for biosorbing different heavy metals ion from industrial effluent. The present work reviews and discusses the advantages of using Saccharomyces sp in the detoxification of effluents containing heavy metals. As yeast developed strategies to resist, tolerate, metabolize and to detoxify these toxic substances, their isolates can be used for bioremediation of environment.