Pankaj Chowdhary

Environmental pollution and health hazards from distillery wastewater and treatment approaches to combat the environmental threats: A review

Distillery industries are the key contributor to the worlds economy, but these are also one of the major sources of environmental pollution due to the discharge of a huge volume of dark colored wastewater. This dark colored wastewater contains very high biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total solids, sulfate, phosphate, phenolics and various toxic metals. Distillery wastewater also contains a mixture of organic and inorganic pollutants such as melanoidins, di-n-octyl phthalate, di-butyl phthalate, benzenepropanoic acid and 2-hydroxysocaproic acid and toxic metals, which are well reported as genotoxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic and endocrine disrupting in nature. In aquatic resources, it causes serious environmental problems by reducing the penetration power of sunlight, photosynthetic activities and dissolved oxygen content. On other hand, in agricultural land, it causes inhibition of seed germination and depletion of vegetation by reducing the soil alkalinity and manganese availability, if discharged without adequate treatment. Thus, this review article provides a comprehensive knowledge on the distillery wastewater pollutants, various techniques used for their analysis as well as its toxicological effects on environments, human and animal health. In addition, various physico-chemicals, biological as well as emerging treatment methods have been also discussed for the protection of environment, human and animal health.

Distillery Wastewater: A Major Source of Environmental Pollution and Its Biological Treatment for Environmental Safety

Distillery industries are one of the major sources of environmental pollution because these industries discharge a huge volume of dark-colored wastewater into the environment. The wastewater discharged contains high biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total solids (TS), sulfate, phosphate, phenolics, and toxic heavy metals. On terrestrial region, distillery wastewater at higher concentration inhibits seed germination, growth and depletion of vegetation by reducing the soil alkalinity and Mn availability, whereas in aquatic region, it reduces sunlight penetration and decreases both photosynthetic activity and dissolved oxygen content damaging the aquatic ecosystem. The large volume of dark-colored wastewater acts as a major source of soil and water pollution and thus requires adequate treatment for its safe discharge into the environment. Therefore, the removal of pollutants and color from distillery wastewater is becoming increasingly important for the environment and sustainable development. Thus, this chapter provides the detailed information on the generation, characteristic, toxicity as well as various biological methods employing bacteria, fungi, microalgae, etc. for the treatment of distillery wastewater. In biological treatment approaches microalgae have a number of applications over the conventional approaches as it is useful in wastewater treatment, CO2 sequestration, cost-effective, sanitation and also in the production of renewable energy sources such as methane gas, biodiesel, biofuel, glycerol, hydrogen gas, biofertilizers, etc. Furthermore, the merits and demerits of existing processes have been also summarized in this chapter.

Toxicity, Beneficial Aspects and Treatment of Alcohol Industry Wastewater

The alcohol industry is one of the most popular among all industries and a key contributor in the world’s economic growth, but unfortunately, these industries are also considered one of the major sources of environmental pollution. Alcohol industry wastewater is highly toxic for the aquatic and the terrestrial eco-system. This wastewater contains a high concentration of biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total solids, organic matter, potassium and sulphates and high acidic characteristics. Because of the high content of a toxic nature, it causes an adverse impact on soil structure and water bodies in the case of excessive amounts. In aquatic resources, it reduces the penetration power of sunlight causing a reduction in the photosynthetic activity of aquatic plants, dissolved oxygen content in water bodies and in terrestrial regions, and it causes genotoxic and phytotoxic effects on animal and plants respectively. Additionally, this wastewater may be used for the ferti-irrigation after proper dilution. In this chapter, we discuss in detail the positive and negative aspects of alcohol wastewater and miscellaneous treatment technologies for wastewater treatment. The aim of this chapter is also to provide updated information on the alternative uses of alcohol wastewater, such as energy production, ferti-irrigation, and other value-added products.

Textile Wastewater Dyes: Toxicity Profile and Treatment Approaches

Textile industry is one of the major industries in the world that play a major role in the economy of many countries. Wastewater discharges from textile industries are highly colored which contains various polluting substances including synthetic dyes, chemicals, etc., causing severe health hazards to humans, animals, plants, as well as microorganisms. This highly colored textile wastewater severely affects photosynthetic function in plant as well as aquatic life by eutrophication. So, this textile wastewater must be treated before their discharge. In this chapter, different treatment methods to treat the textile wastewater have been presented such as physical methods (adsorption, ion exchange, and membrane filtration), chemical methods (chemical precipitation, coagulation and flocculation, chemical oxidation), and biological methods (aerobic and anaerobic). This chapter also recommends the possible eco-friendly approaches for treating diverse types of effluent generated from textile operation.

Conventional Methods for the Removal of Industrial Pollutants, Their Merits and Demerits

Release of unprocessed and incompletely treated industrial wastes signifies a severe environmental threat regarding anthropological and ecological health concerns. An appropriate treatment approach that may be fruitful for waste management in a cost-effective and eco-friendly manner is becoming more important and a critical issue all over the world. There are various conventional, emerging, advanced, and biological treatment methodologies available that are suitable for wastewater remediation. In recent years, researchers have made notable achievements by means of conventional, biotechnological applications for the treatment and degradation of hazardous pollutants and noxious organic and inorganic combinations. Moreover, promising outcomes were achieved by these conventional treatment technologies, but they also have some drawbacks. Therefore, this chapter delivers an impression of the usage, advantages, and shortcomings of current technologies available for the effective management of waste products generated by industrial activities and their economically feasible alternatives.

Recent Advances in Physico-chemical and Biological Techniques for the Management of Pulp and Paper Mill Waste

Pulp and paper industries are one of the major sources of environmental pollution that discharge enormous amount of wastewaters containing recalcitrant pollutants into the environment. Wastewaters have high biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total solids (TS), phenols, lignin and its derivatives. High strength of wastewaters containing dark colour and toxic compounds from pulp paper industries causes serious aquatic and soil pollution. On terrestrial region, pulp and paper mill wastewater at high concentration reduces the soil texture and inhibits seed germination, growth and depletion of vegetation, while in aquatic system, it blocks the photosynthesis and decreases the dissolved oxygen (DO) level which affects both flora and fauna and causes toxicity to aquatic ecosystem. The high pollution load from pulp and paper industrial wastewater gradually increases, and hence, there is a need for adequate treatment to reduce these pollution parameters before final discharge into the environment. Thus, this chapter gives detailed information about sources, characteristics, toxicity and physico-chemical and biological methods for the treatment of pulp and paper mill wastes and wastewaters.

Arsenic Toxicity and Its Remediation Strategies for Fighting the Environmental Threat

Arsenic (As) is an abundant element found ubiquitously in nature, primarily in the earth’s crust and also in the environment. Arsenic is necessary for living beings; however, it is also an emerging issue by virtue of the toxicity it causes in living beings, including humans and animals. Basically, the ground water is badly affected by As contamination, coming from sources including As-affected aquifers, and has severely threatened humanity around the world. Arsenic poisoning is worse in Bangladesh and Uttar Pradesh, where As(III) is found in higher concentrations in ground water, which is used by people. The dissolution process caused by oxidation and reduction reactions leads to the natural occurrence of As in groundwater. There are several review articles on As toxicity and exposure, but with scattered information and no systematic knowledge in a combined way. However, in this chapter we try to compile all the information in systematic manner, which will be helpful for people who are working for As mitigation and removal from environment for sustainable development. This chapter will be helpful in providing detailed knowledge on As occurrence, speciation, factors affecting As toxicity arising because of its biogeochemistry, and various physico-chemical and biological strategies for combating the environmental threats.

Stress response of Triticum aestivum L. and Brassica juncea L. against heavy metals growing at distillery and tannery wastewater contaminated site

This study aimed to investigate the effects of potentially toxic elements on biochemical parameters in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and mustard (Brassica juncea L.) plants growing at distillery and tannery wastewater contaminated sites. The analysis of plants showed the highest accumulation of Fe (361 mg kg-1 in wheat root and 359 mg kg-1 in mustard leaves) followed by Zn, Cr and Mn in leaf>shoot>root. Further, the Chl-a, b, and carotenoids content was also found high in plant samples. Results also showed that photosynthetic content in wheat and mustard growing at tannery wastewater contaminated sites was Chl-a 3.92, 4.53 (mg g_1 fw), Chl-b 2.39, 1.29 (mg g_1 fw) and carotenoids 0.28, 0.32 (mg g_1 fw), respectively. Whereas, photosynthetic content in these plants with distillery waste was as Chl-a 3.43, 4.88 (mg g_1 fw), Chl-b 1.12, 2.05 (mg g_1 fw) and carotenoids 0.24, 0.29 (mg g_1 fw), respectively. In addition, the activity of plant enzymes such as SOD, APx, GPX, MDA, H2O2, and CAT was also higher in selected plants in comparison to control plants. Moreover, the high bioconcentration factor of Zn > 1 (1.29) and translocation factor >10 (10.31) of Cr in tannery wastewater affected mustard plants. This study concluded that industrial wastewaters are the primary sources of metal accumulation in agricultural crops and thus, it should not be discharged into the environment before its proper treatment. Hence, the continuous monitoring of sludge/soil, agricultural plants and water quality are imperative for the impediment of possible health hazards to animal and human beings.