Comparative analysis of residual organic pollutants from bleached and unbleached paper mill wastewater and their toxicity on Phaseolus aureus and Tubifex tubifex

ABSTRACT

The paper industry wastewater even after bio-treatment at industrial scale is a major source of aquatic and soil pollution due to various unknown compounds. Hence, the study has focused on the detection of residual organic pollutants from the bleached and unbleached paper mill wastewater and both sources showed endocrine-disrupting compounds. The toxicity test with Phaseolus aureus seed germination showed inhibition of seed germination and alpha-amylase activity >25% in bleached and unbleached paper mill wastewater. The LC₅₀ of Tubifex tubifex was noted of >50% after 48 hours incubation test. This revealed that the wastewater discharged from bleached paper mill is more toxic than unbleached paper mill waste this might be due to the use of more chemicals during bleaching and pulping process. This study has revealed that there is need to treat both paper mill wastewaters adequately prior to discharge.

KEYWORDS:

• Organic pollutants
• paper mill wastewater
• endocrine disrupting chemical
• Phaseolus aureus
• Tubifix tubifix

Acknowledgements

This work was supported from the Department of Biotechnology New Delhi, Letter No. BT/PR18896/BCE/8/1372/2016 dated 28-03-2018, University Grant Commission, New Delhi, to Mr. Adarsh Kumar is also highly acknowledged and NFPwD (F No.01-01/2019-Sch.) fellowship to Mr. Ajay Kumar.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Biotechnology New Delhi [BT/PR18896/BCE/8/1372/2016]; Ajay Kumar Singh [NFPwD (F No.01-01/2019-Sch.)]; Adarsh Kumar [NON NET Fellowship, University Grant Commission Ne].