2 - Ecotoxicity of synthetic dyes

Abstract

Dyes and pigments are persistent coloring pollutants. Dyes and dye-containing effluent is one of the major sources of pollution of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Small concentration (in ppm) of dye in water body lead to lower its aesthetic value and is responsible to affect photosynthetic process due to less sunlight penetration and the levels of dissolved oxygen, ultimately leading to the adverse effect on the rate of primary food production, food chain, and food web. Moreover, these dyes get accumulated and biomagnified and transferred into food chain leading to serious toxicological impact on aquatic flora and fauna and further on human health. The dyes and sometimes their degradation byproducts are found to be carcinogenic and mutagenic. Present chapter highlights the ecological impacts of textile dyes, Implications of dyes aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and effects of dye toxicity on human health and well-being. Further different ecotoxicological evaluation methods used for assessment of microbial toxicity, phytotoxicity, carcinogenicity, cytotoxicity, and genotoxicity are also explained.