Biorremediación de agua contaminada con arsénico proveniente de la parroquia Toacaso, mediante el uso de Pleurotus ostreatus, Trichoderma harzianum y Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Abstract

The parish of Toacaso located in the province of Cotopaxi, presents a high levels of water pollution with arsenic (As), originated naturally from Iliniza Volcano, reaching concentrations of 0.70 ppm, which has caused metalloid accumulation in crops and diseases such as cancer in their inhabitants. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of Pleurotus ostreatus, Trichoderma harzianum and Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the bioremediation of water contaminated with As. The research was carried out in two phases: field study and laboratory work. In the experimental design, a DBCA with 5 treatments and 4 repetitions was used. Being T0 (water contaminated with arsenic); T1 (water contaminated with arsenic + Pleurotus ostreatus); T2 (water contaminated with arsenic + Trichoderma harzianum); T3 (water contaminated with arsenic + Pseudomonas aeruginosa); T4 (water contaminated with arsenic + Pleurotus ostreatus + Trichoderma harzianum + Pseudomonas aeruginosa) ANOVA with Tuckey of 5% was used for significant variables. The treatment with Pleurotus ostreatus was the best, with a degradation of 0.70 ppm to 0.22 ppm of As, due to the process of biosorption that the fungus performs through rapidly growing mycelia and chitin, being an excellent metal ion trap. With these results, the Toacaso community will be able to implement the use of Pleurotus ostreatus in its rivers to reduce the bioaccumulation of the metal in water, soil and crops, thus being bioremediation a friendly alternative to the environment, easy to apply.