International Journal of Science and Healthcare Research Vol.1; Issue: 4; Oct.-Dec. 2016 Website: www.gkpublication.in/ijshr Review Article ISSN: 2455-7587 International Journal of Science and Healthcare Research (www.gkpublication.in) 15 Vol.1; Issue: 4; October-December 2016 Biosorption for Phenol Removal from Wastewater: an Insight into Studies and Investigations Sunil J. Kulkarni Datta Meghe College of Engineering, Airoli, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Received: 07/10/2016 | Revised: 24/10/2016 | Accepted: 25/10/2016 ABSTRACT Phenolic effluent causes various long term and short term health problems. The sources of phenolic effluent include petroleum and petrochemical industries, pharmaceutical industries, fertilizer and chemical industries etc. Removal of phenol from wastewater can be carried out by using various biological and non biological methods. Biological phenol removal can be carried out by biosorption and various suspended and attached growth processes. Adsorption and ion exchange are also important methods for phenol removal. Use of waste material for biosorption is widely investigated area of research. Current review summarizes research and studies on biosorptive phenol removal from wastewater. Key words: pH, initial concentration, biosorbent dose, percentage removal, contacts time. INTRODUCTION Phenolics are present in wastewater from industries like pesticide, coke preparation, synthetic rubber, textile, colour, explosive, petrochemical etc. Phenolic effluent causes various acute and chronic diseases to human beings. [1-4] Various methods used for phenol treatment of wastewater include chemical oxidation, solvent oxidation and adsorption onto activated carbon and other adsorbents. [5-8] Phenol removal by using various adsorbents such as activated carbon, tamarind bean adsorbent and flyash were found to be promising for phenol treatment. [9-12] Also other agricultural waste materials like rice husk, groundnut shells, leaf litters etc. were investigated for removal of phenol from effluent. [13-16] These materials were found to be useful for phenol treatment and proper pretreatment can make them more effective adsorbents. Various biological methods were employed by various investigators for phenol removal. [17-21] Biosorption is one of the biological treatment methods. Current review summarizes research and studies on biosorption for phenol removal. RESEARCH AND STUDIES ON PHENOL BIOSORPTION Quintelas et. al. investigated biosorption of ortho-cresol, phenol, chlorophenol and chromium (VI) from aqueous solution. [22] They carried out competitive biosorption using a bacterial biofilm supported on granular activated carbon. They observed that percentage removals obtained for phenol, chlorophenol and o-cresol were 97, 93 and 87% percent respectively. The biofilm was supported on granular activated carbon. It was able to remove organic compounds (phenol, chlorophenol and o-cresol) and Cr (VI). They also observed that the uptake of chromium (VI) increased with the presence of organic compounds. Bayramoglu et.al. investigated Funalia trogii pellets for biosorption of phenol and 2-chlorophenol. [23] They studied the effects of various parameters like contact time, solid/liquid ratio, optimum pH and temperature on the biosorption of phenol. With increasing biomass dose, they observed increase in the phenol removal. The biosorption was maximum at pH value of 8. Also they observed that second order rate equation described the phenol removal. The phenol removal also obeyed Langmuir isotherm reasonably well.