Abstract: “Heavy metals pollution is a worldwide issue which requires close monitoring. The presence of naturally occurring cyanobacteria in water bodies makes them good candidates as bioindicators for heavy metals. In this paper, a novel bioindicator using naturally occurring carotenoids for heavy metals detection is reported. The content of carotenoids in cyanobacteria decreased in the presence of heavy metals, with the measurement carried out using spectrophotometer (λ = 440 nm). From the experiment, the cyanobacteria from the lag phase and stationary phase were suitable to be used as the bioindicator, while the detection ranges of Cu and Pb were within 0.01 mg/L to 10.00 mg/L. The lowest detection limits for both Cu and Pb were 0.01 mg/L respectively.”

Keywords: Heavy metals indicator, Anabaena cylindrica, Carotenoids