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Effects of Oil Refinery Effluents on Selenastrum capricornutum P RINTZ
Author(s) -
Gaur J. P.,
Kumar H. D.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
internationale revue der gesamten hydrobiologie und hydrographie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1522-2632
pISSN - 0020-9309
DOI - 10.1002/iroh.19860710214
Subject(s) - effluent , selenastrum , bioassay , dilution , refinery , pulp and paper industry , oil refinery , algae , chemistry , environmental science , environmental chemistry , biology , environmental engineering , botany , ecology , organic chemistry , physics , engineering , thermodynamics
Laboratory‐based bioassay experiments using Selenastrum capricornutum PRINTZ as the test organism were conducted to evaluate the potentiality of refinery effluents to sustain algal growth. The raw effluents were remarkably toxic to the test alga, but satisfactory algal growth occurred in (diluted) 0.01 % effluents. The effluents from subsequent treatment stages required much less dilution to eliminate the toxicity. This study implicates oil and phenol in the reduction of algal growth in refinery effluents. A highly significant negative correlation was found between the final yield of the test alga and the concentration of oil or phenol in the culture suspension. The bioassay experiments therefore point to the toxic nature of refinery effluents. On the basis of these findings it is recommended that proper dilution of refinery effluents is necessary before they are discharged into any body of water.