Analysis and Acute Toxicity Determination of the Dyestuff in the Effluent of a Textile Manufacturing Company Located In The Eastern Part of Nigeria

Abstract

In this study the effluent from General Cotton Mill Limited was analysed with respect to the dyestuff. The General Cotton Mill Ltd is an industry involved in textile manufacture which involves a lot of use of dyestuff and since some dyestuff can be environmental hazards, it became necessary to investigate the effluent to ascertain the safety of the effluent. The effluent was extracted with acetone, hexane and petroleum spirit (40 0 C-60 0 C).Petroleum spirit was the best extracting solvent. The extract was chromatographically separated and subjected to UV visible, infrared and LD 50 determination. There were two major dye components in the extract, blue and purple coloured dyes. The UV corresponding to the blue dye is 500nm while that of the purple dye is 520nm. The functional groups obtained from the IR are primary amide (RCONH 2), sulphonic group (HSO 3), vinyl group (-CH=CH 2), alkyl chloride (C-Cl), aromatic amine group. These IR frequencies are in consonant with that found in most fiber reactive dyes. At an LD 50 test of 500mg/kg, no death or sign from experimental animal (mice) was observed, which suggest that the extract dye is non toxic.