Sulphates for skin preservation—A novel approach to reduce tannery effluent salinity hazards

Abstract

In tanneries microorganisms are able to find environment suitable for their growth. Raw hide of buffalo and other animals like goat that are economically important, are an ideal source of nutrients for bacterial and fungal growth. In the past, preservatives like sodium chloride provided effective protection to fresh hides however the ill effect of their excessive use was not evaluated. But recently concern over potential ecological hazards has become more deliberate and sodium chloride features lot of disadvantages in agriculture as most of the tannery effluent is flown in agricultural fields in India. After rigorous laboratory experimentation on moisture content, SEM of hide, pure sodium sulphate as well as sodium sulphate in addition with sodium chloride (i.e. 10% w/w and 20% w/w) proved as most preferable option for curing of buffalo hide which gives effective preservation. Pollution load studies put forward sodium sulphate as an effective curing agent for buffalo hide to apply at industrial scale also.