Abstract
Ambur, a town located on the banks of Palar River, is considered one of the most polluted areas in India and occupied by hundreds of tanneries and leather product units. The present study was designed to evaluate the toxic effect of discharged tannery effluent (TE) on model agricultural crops, ecofriendly microorganisms, and human blood cells. The phytotoxic effects of TE tested on Allium cepa and Lemna minor revealed inhibition of root growth and significant reduction in number of fronds, protein, and chlorophyll content. Moreover, TE induced chlorosis and tissue necrosis in Nostoc muscorum at low concentration (10%). TE has also negative impact on ecofriendly microorganisms, Bacillus thuringiensis, Rhizobium etli, and Aspergillus terreus which play an important role in the nutrition of plant growth. The genotoxicity of TE was investigated in human leukocytes which showed interference with normal mitotic division with subsequent cell lysis. It also intervened with the normal replication process and induced micronucleus formation in the healthy leukocyte. 5% concentration of TE has been revealed to be toxic to erythrocytes. From this study TE found in the Palar River of Ambur has adverse effects on all the three levels of organisms in ecosystem even at lower concentrations.
Highlights
Indiscriminate discharge of untreated waste water directly or indirectly into aquatic bodies may result in polluted water resources
Our study revealed that the tannery effluent (TE) was highly toxic to the tested microorganism (Bacillus thuringiensis, Rhizobium etli, and Aspergillus terreus)
It can be concluded that the physicochemical parameters of the TE, namely, dissolved oxygen and total dissolved solids, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), nickel, magnesium, chloride, potassium, nitrite, sulphur, and chromium, were found to be much above the permissible limits prescribed by United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
Summary
Indiscriminate discharge of untreated waste water directly or indirectly into aquatic bodies may result in polluted water resources. This would adversely affect humans and other living systems. The metals generally present in tannery effluents (chromium, aluminium, zirconium, etc.) are all classified as having a high/moderately acute or chronic toxic effect on organic life [3]. These are inevitable byproducts of the leather manufacturing process and cause significant pollution unless treated in some way prior to discharge. Treated wastewater discharged from tanning industries contains high level of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), electrical conductivity, and heavy metals especially Cr above permissible levels making it potentially toxic [4]
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