Environmental pollution by

toxic metals began due to the accelerated

development of industrial activities through the

irregular disposal of waste generated by activities

such as mining, metallurgical processes,

chemical industries, agriculture and also by

contaminated effluents. This pollution can affect

human and other animal health through the

accumulation of toxic metals in water, sediment

and soil. Microorganism bioremediation stands

out as a tool for the decontamination of toxic

metal environments. The use of biosorption

or bioaccumulating bacteria has gained much

attention from researchers because of their

potential to provide an effective and costeffective means for the remediation of toxic

metals. Therefore, the use of bacteria with

proven remediation potential and survivability

in the contaminated environment is of utmost

importance for successful bioremediation.

The objective of this project is to identify the

biosorption capacity of toxic metals by bacteria

of the genus Enterococcus sp isolated from the

aquatic environment, by the analysis of toxic

metal resistance by the Gradient Plate technique,

following the maximum concentrations required

by CONAMA Resolution 357/2005. The results

showed that 93% of the isolates showed growth

for zinc metal; 97.2% for copper and 98.6% for

lead. These results reveal that the Enterococcus

bacteria analyzed have resistance to the tested

toxic metals characterizing a potential for

bioremediation, considering that many bacteria

found naturally in the environment may be

closely related to the bioremediation process

reducing the toxicity of the metals.