Measurement of cytotoxicity and heavy metal load in drains water receiving textile effluents and drinking water in vicinity of drains

The textile industry plays a vital role in the development of any nation, however, at the same time it is severely being blamed for water pollution. Faisalabad is the third populated city in Pakistan and is known for intensive textile processing activities. This study was aimed to evaluate the ecological risk of Paharang and Samana Main Drains receiving textile industries effluents and ground water arising from the activities of textile industries in vicinity of Faisalabad, Pakistan. Important quality parameters i.e., Pb and Cd, BOD, COD and cytotoxicity (heamolytic and brine shrimp bioassays) were considered for pollution load evaluation. Results showed that the water quality parameters were beyond the permissible limit and textile industries significantly contributed in contamination of ground water with Pb and Cd metals. The Pb concentration was found out to be in the range of 0.20-0.49 mg/L, 0.13-0.25 mg/L, 0.05-0.14 mg/L in Paharang drain, textile effluents and ground water, respectively, whereas these values were 0.25-0.39 mg/L, 0.25-0.34 mg/L and 0.10-0.23 mg/L in Samana Main Drain, connected textiles units and ground water, respectively. The Paharang Main Drain heamolyzed the RBC in the range of 12.51-84.59% and shrimp death rate was in the range of 22-72%, whereas wastewater from textile units heamolyzed the RBC in the range of 15.32-68.48% and shrimp death rate was in the range of 14.0-66.0%. Samana Drain showed less cytotoxicity as compared to Pagarang Main Drain and both heamolytic and brine shrimp tests showed good correlation of cytotoxicity with water quality.