Bioremoval Capacity Of Phenol By Green MicroAlgal And Fungal Species Isolated From Dry Environment

Phenol is an organic hazardous pollutant that exerts toxic effects on living cells at relatively at low concentrations. Moreover, accumulation of phenol exhibit toxicity towards the biotic components of the environment. Phenol bioremoval is a very useful approach to clean up the residual phenol from the environment. This study aims at isolating green microalgae and fungi from local dry environment to test their ability to remove phenol. Subsequently, two green microalgal species have been isolated and identified as Desmodesmus sp. and Chlamydomonas sp.. Also, two fungal species have been isolated and identified as Rhizopus sp. and Mucor sp. Phenol bioremoval capacity as well as the effects of some physicochemical factors on the bioremoval process were then studied. These factors include initial phenol concentration, contact time, and the synergistic effect (Desmodesmus sp. and Rhizopus sp.) on the bioremoval process. Both microalgae and fungi showed phenol bioremoval capacity. The highest phenol removal percentage among algae was found (75%) by Desmodesmus sp. after 25 days at 25 mg/L, while the highest phenol removal percentage among fungi was found (86%) by Rhizopus sp. after 25 days at 100 mg/L. Bioremoval of phenol by the consortium (Desmodesmus sp. and Rhizopus sp.) was found to be 95% at the phenol concentration 25 mg/L.