Microorganisms employed in the removal of contaminants from wastewater of iron and steel industries

Iron and steel industries are one of the seven major energy-extensive manufacturing industries strengthening any nation’s economic infrastructure. Processes involved in these industries generate a large number of contaminants, which cannot be directly released into the environment. Proper treatment methods for the wastewater are very necessary from ecological standpoint and economical concerns. Doing so naturally is also important to eliminate and reduce the amount of organic and inorganic wastes and heavy metal pollutants to their standard limits. Thus, a number of studies encompassing employment of different microorganisms, natural as well as genetically modified, and their on-site or off-site applications, either as pure microbial strains or as mixed microbial consortia have been conducted. This review aims to present the role of microorganisms that have been successfully investigated for the removal of toxicities from the wastewater generated by the processes of iron and steel industries.