PubMed · 2026-06-09
Bacteria can clean up toxic lead pollution from soil and water by converting dissolved lead into a stable, crystalline mineral — but only when both the living cells and their sticky surface coating work together.
Live bacteria removed up to 99.8% of dissolved lead within 26 hours at concentrations of 50 and 150 mg/L, forming a stable crystalline mineral (chloropyromorphite).
Heat-killed bacteria showed negligible enzyme activity and failed to release the phosphate needed for mineral formation, confirming that active cellular metabolism is essential.
Stripping the bacteria's outer slime layer (while keeping cells alive) sharply reduced lead binding on cell surfaces, showing that both metabolism and the intact coating are independently required and work synergistically.