Efficiency of spent mushroom (Agaricus Bisporus) waste biomass for the biosorption of basic fuchsin dye from aqueous solution

The dumping of wastewater containing the dyes is harmful to the health of aquatic living beings. The colour in water bodies reduces the penetration of light and thereby reduces the concentration of dissolved oxygen (DO) of water bodies. The decreased value of DO is also harmful to aquatic organism. Therefore treatment of wastewater containing dyes becomes essential. Mushrooms have proven to be highly efficient and economical for removing pollutants through bioabsorption. Therefore, in the present study an attempt has been made to study the efficiency of Spent Mushroom Waste (SMW) viz. Agaricus bisporus as biosorbent for the biosorption of Basic Fuchsin Dye (BFD) from aqueous solution. The effects of certain factors such as the dose of adsorbent, temperature, exposure time, and pH were studied on the dye degradation by a given biomass of SMW. The results of the present study revealed that the optimum value of temperature, contact time, adsorbent dose, pH, was 7, 20 minutes, 20 mg, and 30˚C respectively. The biosorption efficiency of the used SMW ranged from good to excellent. The results of the present study revealed that the SMW of Agaricus bisporus is an economically and environmentally sound adsorbent and can be used for the degradation of dyes from water based solutions. Further investigation is required to enhance the adsorption rate of SMW of Agaricus bisporus.