Biosorption of fireworks pollutants by indigenous soil fungi from Sivakasi, India

Sivakasi a notable industrial town, which is known for its fireworks industries that accounts 70% of the country's yield. Besides largest production, release of the wide range of deleterious chemicals increases the concern about environmental conservation. Fungi are the eukaryotic organism which has enormous metabolite profile. These distinct features of fungi made excessive attention towards the mycoremediation. The present study was focused on mycoremediation of soil samples from the fields of nearby fireworks industries. Physico-chemical properties and biological parameters were analysed within 24 h of sample collection. Total of 20 fungi were isolated from the collected samples. Chemical contaminant degrading efficiency of the fungal isolates was screened on the soil waste agar medium. Among all the fungal isolates, four were shown to have positive results. The selective fungal isolates were evaluated for their heavy metal utilization and other pollutants degradation potential using atomic absorption spectroscopy. Key words: Mycoremediation, pollutants, heavy metals, atomic absorption spectroscopy.