J . Chem. Tech. Biotechnol.

1991,50, 507-521

Study on the Kinetics of Hazardous Pollutants Adsorption

and Desorption by Biomass: Mechanistic Considerations

Marios Tsezos & X. Wang

Department of Chemical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada, L8S 4L7

(Received 30 April 1990; revised version received 16 July 1990;

accepted 1 August 1990)

ABSTRACT

The kinetics of biosorption and desorption of lindane, diazinpn and

2-chlorobiphenyl by inactive activatedsludge and Rhizopus arrhizus biomass
was studied. The effects of solution initial concentration, temperature and
type of biomass on the observed biosorption and desorption rates were also
examined. The results of the present work show that the hiosorption rate.7
are reasonably rapid, with equilibrium attained within 4 h by activated sludge
and I h by R. arrhizus. The observed biosorption kinetics consist of a rapid
initial stage followed by a slower second stage. The observed rate of organic
pollutants biosorption by activated sludge during the first stage can be
described by second order kinetics. The biosorption of lindane by both
biomass types is reversible and the desorption process is rapid and could be
described by zero order kinetics when activated sludge is used as adsorbent.
The type of biomass can have a significant ejyect on the observed biosorption
and desorption rates.

Key words: hazardous, priority, pollutants, adsorption, desorption,

biomass, rate, kinetics, mechanism, bioaccumulation.

1 INTRODUCTION

Approximately 50000 different chemicals are in industrial use in North America,

and more than 700 new chemicals are added each year.' Among these chemicals,
organic pesticides are an important member of the priority pollutants group
because of their strong tendency to concentrate in both aquatic and terrestrial
food chains as well as in the primary and secondary sludges of biological wastewater

507

J . Chem. Tech. Biotechnol. 0268-2575/91/$03.500 1991 SCI. Printed in Great Britain

508 M . Tsezos, X . Wany

treatment plants. This fact has prompted studies on the fate of these organics in
biological wastewater treatment plants and the en~ironment.'-~
Generally speaking, there are three mechanisms that relate to the removal of
hazardous pollutants in biological wastewater treatment plants; stripping (affecting
volatile organic compounds), biosorption (including both adsorption and
absorption by microorganisms) and biodegradation for compounds which are
biodegradable.' Actually, all these three processes may function simultaneously
albeit at different rates.3
Biosorption has been shown to be an important mechanism for the removal of
pesticides in activated sludge ~ y s t e m s ,especially
~ for organic compounds which
usually are difficult to biodegrade. Biosorption may also play an important role
in the ultimate fate of organic compounds as it has been reported that relatively
recalcitrant compounds can be effectively degraded if they are first sorbed.6 In
that case, the fate of hydrophobic organic pollutants in water systems could be
dependent upon their sorptive behaviour. The degree of sorption not only affects
a chemical's mobility, but is also a dominant factor in fate processes such as
volatilization and bi~degradation.~
Although biosorption as a process is important, little information is available
on the rate of the biosorption process and the influence of other factors like the
nature of the biomass, temperature, the initial pollutant concentration and the
physical and chemical characteristics of the pollutant.
The present work is part of a wider effort to develop a better understanding of
the removal mechanisms of priority pollutants and to elucidate possible interaction
among different removal mechanisms. Progress in this area is important in our
effort to understand, to model and to predict the fate of priority pollutants in
biological wastewater treatment plants and to adopt plant design practices for
their effective removal.
The present work focuses on the biosorption kinetics of selected priority
pollutants by two kinds of inactive microbial biomass. The use of inactive microbial
biomass makes possible the elimination of biodegradation as a removal
With respect to equilibrium, results reported in the literature suggest that
biosorption occurs at about the same extent in dead cells as in live cell^.^'^ Little
is available on the rate at which the dissolved pollutants are removed from aqueous
solution by biosorption, and this rate is an important factor to wastewater quality
control and may reveal information relevant to the underlying mechanisms.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 Chemicals
Lindane was selected for the present study as a typical organochlorine pesticide.
Diazinon and 2-chlorobiphenyl (ZPCB) were also used in initial tests forcomparison.
All three compounds are listed as priority pollutants by the US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). They represent two significant families of pesticides;
the organochlorine and the organophosphorus pesticides. The above listed
compounds have relatively high water solubilities, low volatilites, present a high
Mechanistic considerations of the kinetics of hazardous pollutants 509

environmental hazard and have been widely used. The examined concentrations
lie within the corresponding solubility limits.2
Lindane, diazinon, and 2-PCB used in the experiments were of 99% or greater
purity and were purchased from Crescent Chemical Co. (Hauppage, New York).
2.2 Biomass
Two types of microbial biomass were chosen for the present study, Rhiazopus
arrhizus, a fungus, and activated sludge, a complex consortium of microorganisms
mainly containing bacteria.
The inactive R . arrhizus used in the experiments was grown in a New Brunswick
Scientific Co. (Edison, New Jersey) Microferm bench top fermentor. Sterile
procedures were used to ensure the production of a pure culture of R. arrhizus.
The growth medium contained a glucose-water solution along with other nutrients
and pH control chemicals. The R . arrhizus biomass was separated by filtering the
fermentor contents through cheesecloth. The biomass was washed thoroughly with
tap water, dewatered and autoclaved. After being freeze dried in a Virtis lyophilizer,
the biomass was stored in jars at room temperature.
The activated sludge biomass used in the experiments was prepared by processing
return activated sludge obtained from the Hamilton, Ontario municipal wastewater
treatment plant. All experimental work involving inactive sludge was done with
a single batch of biomass. A sample of live secondary sludge from the Hamilton
municipal wastewater treatment plant was washed repeatedly with tap water. The
sludge was then concentrated by centrifugation in a laboratory centrifuge at
approximately 3000 rpm for 5 min. The thickened sludge was spread in thin layers
on stainless steel trays and dried at 115°C. The dry sludge was washed with tap
water followed by distilled water. Once again the sludge was separated by
centrifugation and was dried at 115°C. The dry sludge was stored in a jar at room
temperature. This inactive biomass is referred to in subsequent pages as activated
sludge.
The concentrations of the organic compounds in solution were determined by
gas chromatography. The organic chemicals were extracted from water solution
by hexane or iso-octane. The extractions were carried out in Teflon sealed, glass
septum vials agitated by a wrist-action shaker for 30 min. The solvent extracts
were analyzed using a Hewlett-Packard Model 5830A gas chromatograph with
an electron capture detector and a digital integrator. The concentrations of the
unknown samples were determined with the standard curve method.'
All kinetic experiments were carried out in a temperature controlled, stirred
tank batch reactor. The reactor has a cylindrical plexiglass chamber with baffles
to promote good mixing. The samples were collected from the bottom of the
reactor through an attached filtration unit equipped with 0.45 pm membrane filters.
A stainless steel mixer, powered by a variable speed air motor, provided agitation.
The reactor is under mild vacuum during normal operation and can be pressurized
with N, for sample withdrawal. The mixing rate was varied to determine whether
the rate of mass transfer was affected by mixing in the bulk solution or if the
intrinsic sorption rate was observed. Detailed description of this reactor has been
presented elsewhere.'.''
510 M . Tsezns, X . Wung

Desorption experiments followed immediately the respective adsorption

experiments. At the end of the adsorption experiment, the entire solution was
decanted into a big jar to allow the biomass to settle. The supernatant was carefully
decanted leaving the biomass sediment undisturbed. Further removal of water was
done by filtration. Two wet biomass samples were taken to determine their moisture
content. Thus, the biomass dry weight at the beginning of the ensuing desorption
experiment could be determined by subtracting the moisture weight. The wet
biomass was then weighed and transferred quantitatively back into the batch
kinetic reactor for the desorption experiment. Distilled water was also added into
the reactor corresponding to the corrected dry weight of biomass sample in order
to maintain the same solids-to-liquid ratio as on the preceding phase of adsorption.
The mixer was started immediately and the desorbed pollutant concentration was
monitored in the bulk solution as a function of time.

3 EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

The kinetics of the biosorption of lindane, diazinon, and 2-PCB by inactive sludge
was determined using the above described well-mixed batch reactor. In order to
examine the intrinsic rate of biosorption, different mixing rates up to 900 rpm
were tested. The increase of the mixing rate beyond the 500 rpm rate had no
discernible effect on the observed biosorption and desorption rates. Therefore the
500 rpm rate was adopted for the balance of the experiments.
Figure 1 shows the bulk solution normalized concentration profile as a function
of time for the three examined compounds during biosorption by activated sludge
at 20°C. About 99% of the biosorptive uptake capacity was reached within 4 h.
The biosorption of lindane by activated sludge appeared slower than that by
R. arrhizus (Fig. 2 ) . The observed lindane uptake rate was at first relatively rapid
but slowed down later reaching final equilibrium within 4 h (Fig. 2 ) . Similar kinetic
behaviour has been reported for the biosorption of metal ions and organic priority
pollutants.l,*~''
The pollutant initial concentration and solution temperature effect on the
observed kinetics of lindane biosorption by activated sludge were also examined.
Figure 3 illustrates typical experimental rate results for lindane biosorption by
activated sludge at different temperatures. The results suggested that temperature
differences within the 5OC-33"C range do not have a significant effect on the rate
of lindane uptake by activated sludge. A change in the pollutant initial solution
concentration provided reduced concentration profiles such as shown on Figs 4
and 5. Equilibrium loadings on the biomass were always in accordance with
previously reported biosorption isotherm equilibrium values (Tsezos & Bell, 1989).
The temperature effect on the rate of lindane biosorption by inactive R. arrkizus
was also investigated. Figure 6 shows the normalized lindane solution
concentration as a function of time for inactive R . arrkizus at 5°C and 20°C
respectively. Biosorption of lindane by R . urrkizus is a rapid process, reaching
90% of the equilibrium uptake within 20 min and completing equilibrium in less
than 1 h at room temperature.
Mechanistic considerations nf the kinetics i f hazardous pollutants 51 1

1 .o

._
+
0.8

0
L
-w
c
0.6
C
0
V

0.4
N
.-
-
E"
I
0 0.2
Z

0.0 i ~ l ~ l ~ l ~
110 220 330 440 550 660

Time (min)
Fig. 1. Biosorption of ( 0 ) diazinon-11497 pg d r K 3 , (A)lindane-11003pgdm-3 and (0)
2-PCB-293 pg dm-3, by activated sludge. Temperature =20"C.

In the present work, the observed desorption rate was a function of the type of
biomass. Desorption of lindane by dead R . arrhizus was faster than adsorption,
reaching equilibrium within 2 min (Fig. 7). This was observed at all examined
temperatures down to 5"C, and the data did not satisfy simple kinetic models
(zero, first and second order).
The experiments showed that the biosorption of lindane is completely reversible
for both types of inactive biomass even at different temperatures (Fig. 8). Similar
results have been reported.'g7

4 DISCUSSION
4.1 Modelling of results
Few attempts to model the kinetics of biosorption by microorganisms have been
reported. Paris and Lewis" found their data to fit a first order rate model.
Ellgehausen et a l l 3 showed that the process was best described by a second order
kinetic model. These models did not take into account possible biodegradation
and dealt with live biomass.
The present study suggests that the biosorption rate of organic compounds by
the examined two kinds of inactive microbial biomass exhibits a rapid first stage
512 M . Tsezos, X . Wang

1
c
0
._
.~
"O

0.8
a
0
I
c
.'
c
Q,
0.6
0

0.0 I ,
0 110
1 1
220
1 1
330
1 1
uo
1 1
553
1 1
660

Time (min)
Fig. 2. Biosorption of lindane by ( 0 )activated ~ludge--l044pgdm-~and (0)
R . arrhizus---
1003 p g dm-3. Temperature=20"C.

(about 20 min on R . arrhizus and 1 h on sludge) and then a slower second stage.
Such dual rate behaviour could be the result of a two step biosorption mechanism.
First the sorbate (organic pollutant) is likely adsorbed rapidly onto the cell surface
and then slowly moves inside cellular components. KenagaI4 characterized the
accumulation process by living organisms as one involving a temporary equilibrium
by adsorption followed by redistribution of the pollutants by ingestion, absorption,
metabolism, partitioning, storage, and elimination. Sugiura et al.' postulated a
two step process for the biosorption of lindane and other isomers on five types of
unidentified bacteria. The first step is rapid surface adsorption followed by diffusive
penetration as the second step. Bell' suggested that biosorption by inactive cells
also appears to involve both adsorption of the solute on the biomass surface and
absorption of the solute into the cellular components.
To analyse the biosorption kinetic results from our activated sludge and
R . arrhizus experiments, an attempt was made to determine the reaction rate order.
The integral method was used by applying regression analysis on the experimentally
observed time-concentration data. Three different simple models were examined,
a zero, first and second order models. The results suggested that the first stage
rapid biosorption rate of all examined pollutants by inactive activated sludge is
better described by a second order model (Table 1).
Starting from time zero, using a gradually increasing number of data points in
fitting the second order reaction rate model and monitoring at the same time the
change of the correlation coefficient values one could determine the point at which
Mechanistic considerations of the kinetics of hazardous pollutants 513

1 .o 1
0.8

L
u
c
0 0.6
0
C
0
0

.-
-
N

0
€
0
L o.2;

0.0;
1
0
I ,
110
, I
220
, ,
330
I ,
440
, I
550
, ,
660

Time (min)
Fig. 3. Biosorption of lindane by activated sludge at different temperatures. (0)5’C-991 pg d m - j ,
(A)20°C-1003 pg dm-3 and ( 0 )33°C-998 p g dm-3.

the model starts becoming less effective in describing the rate results (Table 2 ) .
When the highest correlation coefficient is obtained, the following is observed in
all experimental results. First, the pollutant uptake percentage by activated sludge
is in the same range of 70-85% of the final equilibrium uptake (Figs 1 and 2 ) .
Second, almost all these points are part of the rapid first stage of biosorption.
One can then see that the major portion of the biomass biosorptive uptake capacity
is contributed by the first rapid stage and fits a second order rate model (Table 3).
Such dual rate processes usually involve sequential steps of convective mass
transfer of substrate from bulk solution to the cell surface and partitioning of the
solute onto the exposed cell surfaces. The ensuing slower second stage process
could be controlled by diffusion of the solute into cellular components. The second
slower process is also mechanistically important since its contribution to overall
uptake capacity is small but usually near the 30% range. Rice and Sikka16 have
suggested that the rapid accumulation of organochlorine insecticides by live
microorganisms is mainly due to adsorption. It appears that a similar observation
is made in the present work dealing with inactive biomass thus supporting the
already proposed physical chemical nature of the biosorptive process and hence
the similarity in uptake capacity between live and dead biomass.’
The lindane-R. arrhizus biosorption system showed an initial equilibrium
plateau at about 15 min of contact time before it finally reached equilibrium (Figs
514 M . Tsezos, X . Wany

1 .o

g
.-
0.8

+-,
?
*
c
0.6
c
0
0

0.4

.-
-
N

L
0
E 0.2
Z

0.0 I I I I I I I I I I I I
110 220 330 440 550 660

Time (min)
Fig. 4. Biosorption of lindane by activated sludge at different initial lindane concentrations, ( 0 )
- ~ (0)
1 0 0 3 ~ g d r n and 9 0 ~ g d r n - Temperature=20"C.
~.

5 and 6). The initial equilibrium plateau corresponds to c. 85% of the total
biosorptive uptake. This observation is consistent with work on the mechanism
of uranium biosorption by R. arrhizus." In this study, the uranium-R. arrhizus
biosorption system reached an initial equilibrium plateau within the first 60 s of
contact at pH 4. This plateau corresponded to c. 66% of the total biosorptive
uranium uptake. Similar behaviour was also observed on diazinon biosorption
by activated sludge (Fig. 5). Since lindane, diazinon and uranium share few, if
any, similarities as sorbates, this similarity in biosorptive behaviour might stem
from similarities in the mechanistic base of biosorption.
For R. arrhizus, the rate of biosorption is very rapid. Zero, first and second of
reaction order kinetics did not fit the experimental results well.
4.2 Temperature effect
The effect of temperature on the biosorption rate by both kinds of biomass is
shown in Figs 3 and 6. The curves were constructed for the temperatures of 5,20
and 33°C for activated sludge and 5 and 20" for R . arrhizus. Lindane was used
as the sorbate.
Biosorption is normally exothermic, thus the extent of adsorption usually
increases with decreasing temperature.2 Small variations in temperature tend not
to alter the adsorption process to a significant extent.',' As expected, temperature
Mechanisfic considerations of' the kinetics of hazardous pollutants 515

1.o

c
.-0 0.8

z
-c.'

-v
c
0.6
c
0
V

0.4

.-
-
N

F
L
0 0.2
Z

0.0 l ~ i 1 1 1 i ~ l ~ 1 1
110 220 330 440 550 680

Time (min)
Fig. 5. Biosorption of diazinon by activated sludge at different initial diazinon concentrations, ( 0 )
~ (0)
1 1 2 0 ~ g d r n -and 1 1 4 9 7 ~ g d r n - Temperature=2O0C.
~.

did not affect the observed biosorption rate significantly, especially for the
biosorption on activated sludge.
The regression results suggest that as temperature increases, the slope of the
regression line changes. The higher the temperature, the faster the reaction, which
is an expected behaviour (Table 3). The regression results of Table 3 also confirmed
that the kinetic constants are independent of the initial pollutant concentration,
and are only affected, as expected, by temperature changes.
4.3 Influence of initial concentrationand the type of organic compound on biosorption
rate
The effect of pollutant initial concentration on the observed biosorption rate was
examined using activated sludge. When the initial concentration of lindane and
diazinon were increased by over an order of magnitude (lindane from 90 to
1003 p g dm-3, diazinon from 1120 to 11 497 p g dm-3), the observed biosorption
rates during the first hour were faster for the higher concentration solutions (Figs
4 and 5). This observation is consistent with the assumed biosorption mechanism
whereby surface adsorption is predominant during the biosorption process and is
a second order rate phenomenon. The higher the concentration, the faster the
removal rate. The rate constants for the near 25°C temperature and for the first
rapid stage, were about 0.12, and independent of the initial lindane solution
516 M . Tsezos, X . Wang

1.o

0.8

L
4-J
c
Q) 0.6
0
t
0
0

-0
0.4
Q)
N

0.2

0.0 I
i ~ l ' l ~ l ~ l ' l ~
0 110 220 350 440 550 SLO
Time (min)
Fig. 6. Biosorption of lindane by R . arrhizus at different temperatures, ( 0 )5°C -1121 pgdm-3 and
(0) 20°C--1044 pg dm-3.

"';J
800

Desorption

00
160< 44 08Time (min)
132 178 220

Fig. 7. Temperature effect on lindane biosorption and desorption (0)

5°C and ( 0 )20°C by R . arrhizus.
Mechanistic considerations of the kinetics of hazardous pollutants 517

Desorption results.
1 .o

7
c 0.8
._
0
-+

-
2
-+
C
a,
0
c
0
0.6
:
0 Biosorption results.
D
0.4
a,
N
.-
-
0
E
L
0 0.2
Z

0.0 II
1
0
~
110
l
220
~
330
l ~
440
l
550
~
860
I ' l ' I

Time (min)
Fig. 8. Temperature effect on lindane biosorption and desorption by activated sludge. (0)
5°C-991 p g dm-3, ( 0 )33"C-998 p g dm-3 and (A)20"C-1003 gg dm-3.

concentration. However, changes of more than one order of magnitude can be

observed on the values of the intercepts (Table 4).This change is due to the effect
of initial concentration. It is also interesting to note that the rapid stage rate
constants are substantially different for the biosorption of each of the examined
different organic molecules by activated sludge.
4.4 The effect of biomass type on the biosorption rate
The physical, chemical and biological nature of the adsorbents (biomass) could
possibly have strong effects on both biosorption rate and biosorption capacity.
The time required to accumulate to maximum uptake differs from organism to
''
organism. Other researchers have found the same phenomena in the biosorption
of metals and have pointed out that there appears to exist a degree of selectivity
by certain biomass types towards metal ions."
The present work suggested that activated sludge and R. arrhizus display different
biosorption rates on lindane. R. arrhizus exhibits faster biosorption and desorption
rates and a higher uptake capacity (Figs 2 and 7). This difference on biosorption
rates cannot be explained by the difference in specific surface areas of inactive
R. arrhizus and activated sludge (0-52m2 g-' and 1.1 m2 g-' respectively'),
because R. arrhizus has a smaller specific surface area.
Conceptually, physical adsorption is based on intermolecular attraction between
518 M . Tsezos, X . Wany

TABLE 1
Reaction Rate Order and Linear Regression Results of Biosorption by Activated Sludge

Compound Initial Temperature Rate order" Correlation

concentration coejjicient
ols dm-3>
Lindane 99 1 5 zero 0.921
first 0.955
second 0.979
998 33 zero 0.887
first 0.919
second 0.945
1003 20 zero 0.9 12
first 0.935
second 0.977
90 20 zero 0844
first 0.899
second 0.941
2-PCB 293 20 zero 0.847
first 0.896
second 0.942
Diazinon 11497 20 zero 0.889
first 0.908
second 0.933
1120 20 zero 0.865
first 0-845
second 0.978

aModels used--zero order model dC/dt = KO,first order model dCldt = K,C, second order
model dC/dt=K,C2, KO,K , , K, are rate constants.

TABLE 2
Typical Linear Regression Results for Second Order Rate Model. Lindane and
Diazinon Biosorption on Activated Sludge at 20°C

Lindane Correlation Diazinon Correlation

number of points coefficient number of points coefficient

4 0.759 4 0.191
5 0.887 5 0807
6 0.927 6 0.868
7 0.964 7 0.961
8 0.971" 8 0.962"
9 0.961 9 0.933
10 0.954 10 0.886
11 0.915 11 0.843
12 0.900 12 0.899
13 0.843 13 0.192
14 0.888 14 0668
15 0.821
16 0.682

Highest correlation coefficient.

Mechanistic considerations 01 the kinetics of hctzardous pollutanrs 519

TABLE 3
Reaction Rate Order (Rapid Stage) and Linear Regression Results of Biosorption by
Activated Sludge

Compound Initial Temperature Rate Rate Intercept

concentration ("c) order constant (dm3 p g - ' )
1P.4 d m - 7 (dm3 p . 4 - l s-')

Lindane 99 1 5 second 0.06 9.78 x 10-4

998 33 second 0.15 1.0 x 10-3
1003 20 second 0.1 1 9.4 x 10-4
90 20 second 0.12 1.1x 10-2
Diazinon 11497 20 second 0.01 8.9 x 10-5
1120 20 second 0.009 7.6 x 10-4
2-PCB 293 20 second 2.01 3.35 x 10-3

TABLE 4
Reaction Rate Order and Linear Regression Results of Desorption by Activated Sludge

Compound Initial Temperature Model order Correlation

concentralion ("c) coefficient
( p g dm - 3,

Lindane 26 5 zero 0.914

first 0.893
second 0.159
20 33 zero 0.989
first 0.865
second 0.759
21 20 zero 0.987
first 0.908
second 0.817

a solute and the solid surface. Since these attraction forces are material and
structure specific, the quantity of adsorption is not solely surface area dependent.'
Strek and Weber18 concluded from their experiments that the type of surface is
as important as the amount of surface in estimating PCB adsorption. Another
hypothesis recently suggested that both surface area and lipid material within that
surface play an important role in the microbial sorption of pesticides from water"
although the opposite has also been reported.'
The available information at present does not allow the formulation of a more
detailed hypothesis that can mechanistically explain the observed differences in
priority pollutant biosorption rates by the different biomass types.
4.5 Desorption
The desorption of accumulated pollutants has been examined by several
researchers. Paris et ~1.'' observed that the rate of biosorption and desorption of
520 M . Tsezos, X . Wang

toxaphene on bacteria, fungi, and algae were the same. Canton et al.’l reported
the sorption of cr-HCH (lindane) by marine algae to be completely reversible.
Tsezos and Bell7 found that sorbed organic compounds are always readily
desorbed, and the desorption isotherms usually appear to be close to the sorption
isotherms. Bell and Tsezos’ calculated the heat of biosorption for the lindane,
R. arrhizus and activated sludge systems and concluded that the apparent
reversibility is consistent with a physical sorption mechanism which would be
expected to be reversible.
The regression of the lindane desorption data from activated sludge indicates
that it is a zero-order reaction (Table 4).

5 CONCLUSIONS

The kinetic experimental results from the present work suggest the following
conclusions :
(1) The biosorption rates of the examined hazardous organic pollutants by the
two biomass types are reasonably fast, consisting of a rapid initial stage
followed by a slower second stage.
(2) The rate of lindane, 2-PCB and diazinon biosorption by activated sludge,
for the rapid first stage, can be described by second order kinetics.
(3) The biosorption of lindane on both biomass types is reversible, and the
desorption process is rapid and could be described by zero order kinetics
when activated sludge is used as adsorbent. This reversibility of biosorption
implies that organic pollutants sorbed onto dead biomass can be released
again back to environment.
(4) The type of biomass can have a significant effect on the observed biosorption
and desorption rate.

REFERENCES

1. Bell, J. P., Biosorption of hazardous organic pollutants, PhD Thesis, Chemical

Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 1986.
2. Bell, J. P. & Tsezos, M., Removal of hazardous organic pollutants by biomass
adsorption. J . W P C F , 59 (1987) 191-8.
3. Blackburn, J. W. & Troxler, W. L., Prediction of the fates of organic chemicals in a
biological treatment process-an overview. Enuiron. Prog., 3 (1984) 163-75.
4. Dobbs, R. A., Jelus, M. & Cheng, K., Partitioning of toxic organic compounds on
municipal wastewater treatment plant solids, Report No. EPA/600/D-86/137, US
Environmental Protection Agency, 1986.
5. Aitken, M. D. 8~Irvine, R . L., Biological Treatment of Hazardous Wastes, Proc. of the
1987 Water Pollution Control Federation. Post-Conference Workshop on Hazardous
Wastes Treatment Process Design, 1987, 678-897.
6 . Kobayashi, H. & Rittmann, B. E., Microbial removal of hazardous organic compounds.
Enuiron. Sci. Technol., 16 (1982) 107A-82A.
7. Tsezos, M . & Bell, J., Comparison of the biosorption and desorption of hazardous
organic pollutants by live and dead biomass. Water Research, 23 (1989) 561-8.
Mechanistic considerations of the kinetics of hazardous pollutants 52 I

8. Tsezos, M . & Seto, W., The adsorption of chloroethanes by microbial biomass. Water
Res., 20 (1986) 851-8.
9. Baughman, G. L., Paris, D. F. & Hodson, R. E., Microbial bioconcentration of organic
pollutants from aquatic systems-A critical review. CRC Cri. Rev. Microbiol., 8 (1981)
205-8.
10. Tsezos, M., Baird, M. H. I. & Schemilt, L. W., The kinetics of radium biosorption,
Chem. Eng. J . , 33 (1986) B35-B41.
11. Tsezos, M. & Volesky, B., The mechanism of uranium biosorption by rhizopus arrhizus.
Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 29 (1982) 385-401.
12. Paris, D. F. & Lewis, D. L., Accumulation of methoxychlor by microorganisms isolated
from aqueous systems. Bull. Enuiron. Contam. Toxicol., 15 (1976) 24-31.
13. Ellgehausen, H., Guth, J. A. & Esser, H. O., Factors determining the bioaccumulation
potential of pesticides in the individual compartments of aquatic food chains. Ecotoxicol.
Enuironm. Sqfety, 4 (1980) 134-57.
14. Kenaga, E. E., Guidelines for environmental study of pesticides: Determination of
bioconcentration potential. Residue Rev., 44 (1972) 73-1 13.
15. Sugiura, K., Sato, S. & Goto, M., The adsorption diffusion mechanism of BHC-residues.
Chemosphere, 4 (1975) 189-94.
16. Rice, C. P. & Sikka, H. C., Fate of dieldrin in selected species of marine algae. Bull.
Enoiron. Contam. Toxicol., 9 (1973) 116-23.
17. Lal, R. & Saxena, D. M., Accumulation, metabolism and effects of organochlorine
insecticides on microorganisms. Microbiological Reviews, 46 (1982) 95-127.
18. Strek, H. J. & Weber, J. B., Adsorption and reduction in bioactivity of polychlorinated
biphenyl (aroclor 1254) to redroot pigweed by soil organic matter and montmorillonite
clay. Soil. Sci. Soc. Am. J . , 46 (1982) 318-32.
19. Grimes, D. J. & Morrison, S. M., Bacterial bioconcentration of chlorinated hydrocarbon
insecticides from aqueous systems. Microhiol. Ecology, 2 (1975) 43-59.
20. Paris, D. F., Lewis, D. L. & Barnett, J. T., Bioconcentration of toxaphene by
microorganisms. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol., 17 (1977) 564-79.
21. Canton, J. H., van Esch, G. J., Greve, P. A. & van Hellemond, A. B. A. M.,
Accumulation and elimination of a-hexachlorocyclohexane(a-HCH) by the marine algae
chlamydomonas and dunaliella. Water Res., 11 (1977) 111-15.