The use of Microtox® to assess toxicity removal of industrial effluents from the industrial district of Camaçari (BA, Brazil)

The treatment efficiency, as toxicity removal, of complex effluents from the Industrial District of Camaçari (BA, Brazil), after biological treatment with activated sludge was evaluated using Microtox®. Samples of the equalised effluent (EE) were collected prior to treatment together with samples of the treated effluent (TE), which remained 24 h in the treatment plant. Rehydrated colonies of Vibrio fischeri were exposed to sequential dilutions of EE and TE to assess luminosity interference. Values for EC50 were calculated, together with the respective toxicity units. In all, twenty assays of each effluent type were carried out and the mean toxicity removal was 92.71%, while the chemical oxygen demand (COD) presented mean reduction of 83.04%. There was a variability of an order of magnitude between the Microtox® results for the two types of effluents. The mean EC50 values were 2.12 for EE and 47.78% for TE. In spite of its weakness in some conditions, the Microtox® system demonstrated to work adequately in assessing effluent toxicity removal in this treatment plant and therefore can be used for further toxicity removal programs.