In this study, heavy metal biosorption potentials of two white-rot fungi. P
olyporous versicolor and Phanarochaete chrysosporium, which are commonly us
ed in wastewater treatment were determined. Biosorption studies were perfor
med for Cu(II), Cr(III), Cd(II), Ni(II) and Pb(II) at the same operational
conditions and the effectiveness of both fungi at removing these heavy meta
ls was compared. It was found that both P. versicolor and P. chrysosporium
were the most effective in removing Pb(II) from aqeous solutions with maxim
um biosorption capacities of 57.5 and 110 mg Pb(II)/g dry biomass, respecti
vely. With P. versicolor, the adsorptive capacity order was determined to b
e Pb(II)>Ni(II)>Cr(III)>Cd(II)>Cu(II) whereas the order was Pb(II)>Cr(III)>
Cu(II))=Cd(II)>Ni(II) with P. chrysosporium. As a general trend, metal remo
val efficiency with these fungi decreased as the initial metal ion concentr
ation increased. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res
erved.