Abstract
Toxicity and genotoxicity tests were performed on root cells of Allium cepa in order to evaluate wastewater quality following an ECF cellulose bleaching process. The results revealed a toxic effect of the effluent, with inhibition of meristem growth and generally lower values of metaphase, anaphase and telophase indices at pH 10.5 than pH 7 for all effluent concentrations. The genotoxicity effect was different from the toxic effect given that the micronucleus and the chromosomal aberration tests in anaphase-telophase cells were low over all ranges of the studied effluent concentrations.
Highlights
Pulp and paper mill effluents are constant sources of discharge of a complex mixture of organic pollutants, which produce aquatic contamination and impact human health. Examples of this type of contamination are given by various authors (Grant, 1982; Blavk and Bauman, 1991; Garcia et al 1995; Bowron et al, 2009; Diniz et al, 2010; MacLatchy et al, 2010; Kulshreshtha et al, 2011), who report that the cellulose and paper industry release a large quantity of chemical agents into aquatic areas
This test has been widely used to study the toxicity and genotoxicity of many dangerous contaminants, such as pesticides, azo dyes, food preservatives and hydrocarbons (Riffat and Ahmad, 2006; Mittergger et al, 2007; Feretti et al, 2007; Türkoğlu, 2007; Leme and Marin-Morales, 2008; Mustafa and Arikan, 2008; Ashraf and Husain, 2010), where all tests have shown that A. cepa is more sensitive for detecting toxicity and genotoxicity than other tests
Genotoxicity assays In this experiment, we used A. cepa bulbs exposed to the same effluent concentrations as above (100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, and 6.25%), as well as a negative control using spring water and a positive control using 10 mg.L–1 of methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) (Rank et al, 2002)
Summary
Pulp and paper mill effluents are constant sources of discharge of a complex mixture of organic pollutants, which produce aquatic contamination and impact human health Examples of this type of contamination are given by various authors (Grant, 1982; Blavk and Bauman, 1991; Garcia et al 1995; Bowron et al, 2009; Diniz et al, 2010; MacLatchy et al, 2010; Kulshreshtha et al, 2011), who report that the cellulose and paper industry release a large quantity (i.e. metric tons) of chemical agents into aquatic areas. The A. cepa assay is an efficient test for chemical screening and in situ monitoring of the genotoxicity effect of environmental contaminants (Fiskesjö, 1985, 1993; Barbérico et al, 2009; Siddiqui et al, 2011; Nunes et al, 2011). In this study, we use the Allium cepa test to evaluate the toxicity and genotoxicity of a Kraft ECF bleaching effluent
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