Impact of the Textile Dye Acid Blue 40 on the Periphyton of a Simulated Microecosystem

Abstract

Textile industry is responsible for a large amount of wastewater inappropriate for both human consumption and aquatic species. Aquatic ecosystems are way more sensitive to the release of textile wastewater, and the usage of Winogradsky columns is interesting, once they are a simulated aquatic ecosystem in which the growth of algae and other microorganisms can be observed. In this research, simulated textile effluents with the dye Acid Blue 40 were treated with an electrolytic reactor, for a later ecotoxicological evaluation using Winogradsky columns. The algal and microbial population and primary production were measured. The results have shown that the electrolytic treatment was satisfactory when it comes to color removal, but the presence of the treated effluent in the Winogradsky columns changed the microecosystem. The number of algae identified decreased when exposed to certain effluents, and some algae groups even disappeared, while others such as Cyanophyceae were benefited.