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Biological approaches to mitigate heavy metal pollution from battery production effluents: advances, challenges, and perspectives

Summary

Battery factories produce dirty water containing harmful heavy metals like lead and cadmium. Instead of using expensive chemical treatments, scientists are finding natural ways to clean this water using plants, bacteria, and other living organisms. These biological methods can remove up to 99% of the metals and are better for the environment. This review examines all these natural cleaning methods and suggests ways to make battery production cleaner and safer.

Background

Battery production generates hazardous effluents containing heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, nickel, copper, zinc, and chromium, which pose serious risks to human health and the environment. These metals bioaccumulate in ecosystems and can enter the food chain due to their persistence, toxicity, and mobility. With increasing demand for batteries projected to grow 9.3 times by 2030, efficient treatment of these effluents is critical.

Objective

This review examines emerging bioremediation technologies for treating battery production effluents, focusing on biological methods including biosorption, phytoremediation, and microorganism-based approaches. The study aims to identify biological mechanisms for heavy metal removal and highlight existing knowledge gaps in battery industry effluent management research.

Results

Biosorption emerged as the most utilized strategy (54.4%) across organisms from different kingdoms. The review identified four main research clusters: technologies, chemical composition, process optimization, and modeling. Emerging trends include recycling, metal recovery, nanoparticles, and alternative biosorption materials, with biosorption, phytoremediation, and bacterial treatments showing high removal efficiencies (up to 99-100% for various metals).

Conclusion

Biological approaches, particularly biosorption, offer sustainable alternatives to conventional chemical treatments for heavy metal removal from battery effluents. Integration of sustainable technologies with traditional knowledge can promote environmentally responsible battery production practices aligned with environmental justice principles. Future research should address existing knowledge gaps and develop scalable, cost-effective bioremediation solutions.
  • Published in:Environmental Science and Pollution Research International,
  • Study Type:Review,
  • Source: PMID: 40892187, DOI: 10.1007/s11356-025-36792-8
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