Ecotoxicological evaluation of waste water from nitrocellulose production

Abstract

The present study evaluated the toxic potential and physicochemical characteristics of waste water generated in nitrocellulose production, including effluents from delignification, bleaching, nitration and mixture (composed of these three effluents), from a plant in the Paraiba Valley, São Paulo, Brazil. The test organisms used for toxicity assays were Daphnia similis, Danio rerio, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas putida and Pseudokircheneriella subcaptata. The results showed that the effluents analyzed present acute and chronic toxicity for the organisms tested. Nitration effluent was the least toxic, while delignification and bleaching effluents were the most toxic. The naturally occurring pollutants in wood fiber and cotton, like lignin, probably contributed to effluents toxicity, in addition to higher concentrations of total dissolved solids, which are in non-compliance with Brazilian legislation, conductivity, chemical oxygen demand and color. The discharge of nitrocellulose effluent into an aquatic environment should only occur after appropriate treatment, due to their toxic characteristics.

Bacterial communities inhabiting toxic industrial wastewater generated during nitrocellulose production

“…The average pH values of the samples S I and S O were 7.98 and 7.71, respectively, indicating these values were within permissible to be discharged. According to Ribeiro et al (2013), a mixture of nitrocellulose effluents including delignification, bleaching and nitration processes achieves a pH value of 7.4. Before the toxicity tests, to avoid the influence of pH on survival of the test objects, the pH value was neutralized using HCl solution.…”

“…The tested sample is considered as non-cytotoxic, when It ranges from 70% to 120% (Chudinskaya et al 2011). To avoid the impact of pH on survival of test objects, the pH values in the samples were neutralized by using HCl solution before the toxicological analyses (Ribeiro et al 2013).…”

“…After the nitrocellulose synthesis, the produced wastewater from industries can cause damage effects since it contains various dissolved adverse chemical compounds as well as a suspension of nitrocellulose powder particles. Nitrocellulose itself and its compounds, their recalcitrance to biological destruction as a parent cellulose material and their toxic properties have a negative impact on living organisms as well as on different water and soil resources (El-Diwani et al 2009;Giacomucci et al 2012;Ribeiro et al 2013).…”

Simultaneous oxidative degradation of toxic acid wastewater from production of nitrocellulose and release of Mn2+ from low-grade MnO2 ore as oxidant

“…In general, the NAW contains a large quantity of soluble/insoluble materials such as waste sulfuric and nitric acid, fiber, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, protein, fatty acids, tannin, NC fines and hydrolysis products, resulting in a high chemical oxygen demand (COD), suspended solids (SS) and turbidity . Furthermore, NAW is classified as a hazardous waste because of strong acidic corrosion and the high toxicity of NC fines . This toxic effluent poses a considerable threat to receiving waters if discharged without proper treatment .…”

“…Furthermore, NAW is classified as a hazardous waste because of strong acidic corrosion and the high toxicity of NC fines . This toxic effluent poses a considerable threat to receiving waters if discharged without proper treatment . Therefore, a great concern has been expressed about the safe disposal of NAW in many countries.…”