Abstract
Heavy metal pollution has become an emerging issue worldwide owing to
its high toxicity, non-biodegradability and persisting nature. Thus, it shows high
bioaccumulative ability in the living system that may lead to carcinogenicities and
several health complications in humans, even at trace concentrations. Their genesis
occurs via both natural as well as anthropogenic activities that have contributed to an
unusual increase in the concentration of toxic heavy metals across the globe. Several
conventional methods, namely chemical precipitation, ion exchange, and membrane
filtration, are being implied for the elimination of recalcitrant metals persisting in the
ecosystem. But these methods have their own shortcomings and offer many limitations
when applied to large volumes and fewer metal concentrations. In this regard, an
alternative treatment method is needed that will overcome major demerits while
remediating pollutants at a large scale without generating any secondary pollutants.
Hence, a variant of the sorption technique, i.e., biosorption, appeared as economical
and eco-friendly alternative treatment technology which is characterized by utilizing a
material of biological origin. Further, in this process, the binding of passive cations
might occur through living or nonliving biomass and aid in the elimination of
contaminants from the aquatic system. The origin of biosorbents may vary in terms of
the different microorganisms used. However, the biomass of macrofungi or mushrooms
has been apprehended as a reassuring class of low-cost adsorbents in effacing toxic
ions. This is because the cell walls of macrofungi are enriched with several functional
groups that provide key aspects in the biosorption process. In this chapter, the
biosorptive propensity of different mushrooms toward metal ions has been accented,
and also insights into mechanisms of biosorption are discussed.