MONITORING AND BIOREMEDIATION OF HEXAVALENT CHROMIUM IN INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENTS

Abstract

Chrome compounds are widely used in many industries such as steel production, wood preservation, leather tanning and paints, dyes, and metal coatings. Chromium causes contamination of water, soil, and sediments, and chromium is found mainly in the form of trivalent or hexavalent chromium. Chromium is an essential component of the minor elements needed for humans and animals. High rates of chromium are toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic to living organisms, as they lead to birth defects in some cases. The modern challenges focus on facing pollutants that pose a huge threat to human health such as lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, pesticides and cadmium, which seriously affect health. As extreme exposure to chromium (VI) causes liver and kidney damage, as well as skin cancer, ulceration of the skin and mucous membranes and increases the risk of respiratory cancer. It is worth noting that recently studies focus on using biotechnology (bacteria and fungi) to reduce the risk of chromium (VI) contamination. This study aims to obtain bacterial strains that have the ability to grow in the presence of different concentrations of hexavalent chromium and to assess the ability of these isolates to grow in the presence of different concentrations. The study also was designed to monitor the pollution by chromium