Evaluation of the Potential Toxicity of Effluents from the Jeans Manufacturing Industry Before and After Treatment

Wastewater from the textile industry is an emerging contaminant and is toxic to aquatic organisms. The objective of this study was to evaluate the Lethal Concentration (LC50) of raw textile effluent (RTE) on Artemia salina and Rhamdia quelen fish (larvae and juveniles), as well as treated textile effluent (TTE)³ on A. salina, and its effects on R. quelen and Allium cepa roots. The textile effluent was collected from the jeans manufacturing industry and tested on A. salina for 48 h and on R. quelen for 96 h. Juveniles of R. quelen were exposed to RTE and TTE for seven days, and in A. cepa for 72 h for biomarker analysis. Genetic damage tests, histological tests and micronucleus tests were carried out. RTE was toxic to the test organisms, resulting in a CL50-48 h of 6.06% for A. salina, CL50-96 h of 3.40% (v/v) for larvae and 13.42% (v/v) for juveniles of R. quelen. The CL50-48 h for A. salina exposed to TTE after a pause in effluent treatment was 21.38% and continuous circulation was 44.65%, reducing the toxicity of the waste. The effluents did not alter the mitotic index and nuclear changes in onion roots. For R. quelen, there was histological and genetic damage, but there was no significant difference. The raw textile effluent caused more effects than the treated one for all the data analyzed, demonstrating the importance of efficient treatments to promote sustainability.