Volume 16, Issue 1 (Autmn 2026)
J. Aqua. Eco 2026, 16(1): 49-61 |
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moezzi M, Mortazavi M S, Seydgar M, Zahedi M R, Mohebi S L, sheikh asadi M, et al . Bioremediation of heavy metals from desalination wastewater using microalgae Dunaliella salina. J. Aqua. Eco 2026; 16 (1) :49-61
URL: http://jae.hormozgan.ac.ir/article-1-1143-en.html
URL: http://jae.hormozgan.ac.ir/article-1-1143-en.html
Maryam Moezzi * 
, Mohammad seddiq Mortazavi , Masoud Seydgar , Mohammad reza Zahedi , Seyedeh leili Mohebi , Mohammad Sheikh asadi , Gholamali Akbarzadeh chomachaei , Fereshteh Saraji , Hadi Koohkan , Roudabeh Rufchaie , Mansour Sharifian
, Mohammad seddiq Mortazavi , Masoud Seydgar , Mohammad reza Zahedi , Seyedeh leili Mohebi , Mohammad Sheikh asadi , Gholamali Akbarzadeh chomachaei , Fereshteh Saraji , Hadi Koohkan , Roudabeh Rufchaie , Mansour Sharifian
Abstract: (25 Views)
The rapid expansion of desalination plants worldwide, including in Iran, has raised increasing concerns regarding the management, disposal, and environmental impacts of desalination effluents. The present study was conducted at the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea Ecology Research Institute to evaluate the feasibility of reducing heavy metal concentrations in desalination plant effluents using a biological treatment approach based on the microalga Dunaliella salina. The experiment was carried out over a 14-day period using three treatments with three replicates each: (1) cultivation of D. salina in seawater with a salinity of 38 ppt; (2) cultivation in desalination plant effluent with a salinity of 65 ppt; and (3) cultivation in seawater adjusted to the same salinity level as the desalination effluent. Initially, the concentrations of heavy metals including Ni, Pb, Cr, Zn, Cu, Cd, and Fe were measured in both seawater and desalination effluent samples. During the experiment, microalgal cell density was monitored, and the removal efficiency of heavy metals was determined at the end of the cultivation period. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) demonstrated significant differences among treatments in algal cell density (p ≤ 0.05). The highest cell density was observed in treatment 1 (52.8 × 10⁶ cells mL⁻¹), whereas the lowest density occurred in treatment 3 (0.44 × 10⁶ cells mL⁻¹). The percentages of heavy metal removal by D. salina in treatments 1, 2, and 3, respectively, were as follows: Fe (77.21%, 80.59%, 77.54%), Zn (42.76%, 46.43%, 55.28%), Cu (35.35%, 48.79%, 41.18%), Ni (45.18%, 26.31%, 41.55%), Pb (76.83%, 74.66%, 75.75%), Cr (42.92%, 37.49%, 35.50%), and Cd (26.55%, 24.34%, 29.19%). Except for Pb, significant differences were observed between treatments 1 and 2 as well as between treatments 2 and 3 (p ≤ 0.05). The relatively high removal efficiency observed in treatment 2 may be associated with the uptake and utilization of heavy metals by the microalgae as micronutrients required for growth and metabolism. Overall, the findings indicate that D. salina effectively reduced heavy metal concentrations in desalination effluents through biological absorption and accumulation processes. Considering that heavy metal concentrations were reduced to levels closer to environmental standards following microalgal cultivation, the use of D. salina may represent a promising and environmentally sustainable strategy for mitigating heavy metal pollution and improving the ecological quality of desalination plant wastewater before discharge into marine environments
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons — Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)