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Evaluation of hospital laundry effluents treated by advanced oxidation processes and their cytotoxic effects on Allium cepa L.

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Abstract

Hospital laundries are responsible for a significant part of the amount of wastewater that is generated in hospitals. Hospital laundry wastewater represents a complex mixture of chemicals that arouse concerns about possible environmental risks. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the cytotoxicity of different laundry effluents from the Regional University Hospital of Maringá, Paraná, Brazil, on Allium cepa L. meristematic root cells. The effluents were characterised as rinsing, wetting, prewashing, washing, softening, wastewater (the effluent generated at the end of the washing process), the wastewater that was treated by physicochemical (PC) processes and the wastewater that was treated by advanced oxidation processes (PC + UV, PC + H2O2 and PC + UV/H2O2). The mitotic indexes were calculated by scoring 5000 cells per group and the statistical analyses were performed by one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s post-test (α = 0.05). Results showed that the rinsing, wetting, prewashing and wastewater laundry effluents were cytotoxic at 24 h of exposure, significantly reducing the mitotic index. Despite the slight cytotoxicity of the PC + UV/H2O2 treatment, physicochemical and advanced oxidation processes efficiently reduced the critical parameters of wastewater, such as the biochemical and chemical oxygen demands, to tolerable levels of effluent discharge. It is essential to perform constant monitoring of these effluents in order to reduce the possible occurrence of environmental impacts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Genetics and Cell Biology, State University of Maringá, Avenida Colombo, 5. 790, Jardim Universitário, Maringá, Paraná, 87020-900, Brazil

    Angélica Oliveira Furtado, Igor Vivian Almeida, Ana Clara Canesin Almeida & Veronica Elisa Pimenta Vicentini

  2. Federal Rural University of Amazonia, Campus Capitão Poço, Estrada Pau Amarelo, Vila Nova, Capitão Poço, Pará, 68650-000, Brazil

    Igor Vivian Almeida

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, State University of Maringá, Avenida Colombo, 5. 790, Jardim Universitário, Maringá, Paraná, 87020-900, Brazil

    Jaqueline Pirão Zotesso & Célia Regina Granhen Tavares

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  1. Angélica Oliveira Furtado
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  2. Igor Vivian Almeida
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  3. Ana Clara Canesin Almeida
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  4. Jaqueline Pirão Zotesso
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  5. Célia Regina Granhen Tavares
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  6. Veronica Elisa Pimenta Vicentini
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Correspondence to Igor Vivian Almeida.

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Furtado, A.O., Almeida, I.V., Almeida, A.C.C. et al. Evaluation of hospital laundry effluents treated by advanced oxidation processes and their cytotoxic effects on Allium cepa L.. Environ Monit Assess 192, 360 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-08328-9

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