Bioremediation of heavy metals using yeast

Heavy metal pollution is a serious global environmental issue due to its toxicity and bioaccumulation. Agricultural and industrial practices including usage of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides and industrial wastage introduce a massive amount of heavy metal contamination to natural environment. Accumulation of these heavy metal contaminants in environment ultimately results in an adverse impact on environmental health. Removing these toxic heavy metals from the natural environment is important for the betterment of human and ecological health. Bioremediation is the most effective, environmentally safe, and economically sustainable method for heavy metal removal. With these facts in mind, this chapter explores the potency of yeast cells in the process of heavy metal bioremediation. Yeast biomass not only removes a wide range of toxic metal contamination but also exhibits its activity under extreme conditions. Different mechanisms of yeast interacting with heavy metals are studied and used in such bioremediation processes.