ABSTRACT
The present study evaluated the toxic potential and physicochemical characteristics of waste water generated in nitrocellulose production, including effluents from delignification, bleaching, nitration and mixture (composed of these three effluents), from a plant in the Paraiba Valley, São Paulo, Brazil. The test organisms used for toxicity assays were Daphnia similis, Danio rerio, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas putida and Pseudokircheneriella subcaptata. The results showed that the effluents analyzed present acute and chronic toxicity for the organisms tested. Nitration effluent was the least toxic, while delignification and bleaching effluents were the most toxic. The naturally occurring pollutants in wood fiber and cotton, like lignin, probably contributed to effluents toxicity, in addition to higher concentrations of total dissolved solids, which are in non-compliance with Brazilian legislation, conductivity, chemical oxygen demand and color. The discharge of nitrocellulose effluent into an aquatic environment should only occur after appropriate treatment, due to their toxic characteristics.
Subject(s)
Industrial Waste , Wastewater/toxicity , Water Pollutants, Chemical/toxicity , Animals , Bacteria/drug effects , Bacteria/growth & development , Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis , Brazil , Chlorophyta/drug effects , Chlorophyta/growth & development , Collodion , Daphnia/drug effects , Environmental Monitoring , Explosive Agents , Wastewater/chemistry , Water Pollutants, Chemical/chemistry , Zebrafish/metabolismABSTRACT
During the manufacture of explosives, large amounts of water are used to remove unwanted by-products generated. This water in turn, ends up in wastewater treatment plants or water bodies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the toxic potential of effluent generated by 2.4.6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) production, yellow water, red water and mixture of yellow and red water, produced from a plant located in the Paraíba Valley, São Paolo state, Brazil. Daphnia similis, Danio rerio, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas putida and Pseudokircheneriella subcaptata were used as test organisms. Physicochemical parameters such as color, pH, conductivity, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) were evaluated. Effluent from 2.4.6-TNT production was extremely toxic to all test organisms. The physicochemical parameters evaluated showed high levels of conductivity (from 41.533 to 42.344 µS /cm) and chemical oxygen demand (COD of 8471 to 27.364 mg/L) for the effluents analyzed.