The biosorption of heavy metals has received a lot of attraction for application of metal ions treatment. In this work, we studied with Arthrobactor sp., screening from a wastewater containing heavy metals. The Pb uptake capacity of Arthrobactor sp. was nearly 146.9 ㎎ Pb/g dry biomass(initial concentration, 500 ㎎/L), whereas the Pb uptake capacity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces uvarum were only around 39.40 and 35.65 ㎎ Pb/g dry biomass, respectively. The Pb and Cr were removed from metal solution much more efficiently than were the other metals(Cd and Cu). The Pb uptake capacity of Arthrobactor sp. increased with increasing in pH(1.8, 3.0 and 4.0) and decreased with increasing of biomass concentration. At pH 4.0, the Pb uptake capacity reached 244 ㎎ Pb/ g dry biomass in Pb initial concentration of 1000 ㎎/L. The Pb uptake capacity of Arthrobactor sp. treated by KOH and CaCl_2 were increased above values obtained with untreated Arthrobactor sp. However, the Pb uptake capacity of Arthrobactor sp. treated by NaOH was decreased. The removal efficiency of Pb was kept above 99% before the breakthrough points were reached.

• Kab-Hwan Ahn(Dept. of Envíronmental Scíence & Technology, Jisan Junior College)
• Kuen-Hack Suh(Dept. of Chem. Eng., Pukyong Natíonal University)