ABSTRACT
Biosphere pollution by heavy metals has been increasing since the last century. In contrast to other contaminants of anthropogenic origin, heavy metals cannot be degraded biologically; therefore, these need to be recovered from soil or water and then be safely confined. Copper is an abundant heavy metal in soil and water, and it is an essential element for all living organisms as it is involved in cellular metabolism. However, at high concentrations, it is toxic, particularly to photosynthetic organisms, which are the basis of all food chains in nature. This problem caused by heavy metal pollution has led to the development of efficient technologies for their removal. Physicochemical methods provide a quick alternative for the recovery of these contaminants when they are in high concentration; however, they are not effective at low concentrations. The biotechnology bioremediation alternative is the use of higher organisms such as plants or microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, algae, and microalgae. Metal removal via bioremediation may be accomplished by various processes such as bioextraction, biofiltration, bioleaching, biostabilization, biosorption (biosorption or bioaccumulation/bioabsorption), biooxidation, bioreduction, and biovolatilization (biomethylation), among others. The technologies for the recovery of soil and water contaminated by heavy metalslooks for to reduce the energetic requirement with the aim to lower the operating costs and to ensure longer lifetime of the process, making the processes of bioremediation a viable alternative to physicochemical processes. This chapter is addressed to analyze the problems related to the contamination by heavy metals, and the use of bioremediation as an alternative for their elimination particularly copper, and bioremediation as a biological alternative for their elimination.
