Comparative toxicity of an effluent from a chlor-alkali industry and HgCl2
Release of waste waters from industries severely affect aquatic flora and fauna. Effluents from industries involved in the production of pesticides, or from industries utilizing toxic substances in their production processes are of particular concern. One such industry, the chlor-alkali industry, utilizes mercury as a cathode in an electrolytic process. The present study reports the toxicity assessment of the effluent from a chlor-alkali factor, Jayshree Chemicals Ltd., Ganjam, Orissa. The reported production capacity of the plant is 50 tons of NaOH per day. The effluent discharged, 50,000 1 per day, contains mercury ranging up to 1.5 mg/l, much more than the permissible limit of 0.01 mg/l set by the Central Board for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution, India. The effluent enters the Rushikulya River Estuary and finally the Bay of Bengal. This paper was also designed to determine whether the mercury present in the effluent was toxic or whether the toxicity involved some other parameters of the effluent as well.
Serious mercury contamination of sediments in a Norwegian semi-enclosed bay
Abstract Thirteen surface sediment samples from a shallow, semi-enclosed bay, Gunnekleivfjorden, South-West Norway, were analysed for total mercury. The concentrations ranged between 90 and 350 ppm dried sediment. The median value (250 ppm mercury) is more than twice the median value of sixteen sediment samples collected in Minamata Bay in 1963. The surface area of Gunnekleivfjorden is approximately 1 km 2 , implying that minimum 10 tons of mercury is accumulated in the upper 5 cm of the sediments of the bay. The extensive contamination is caused by discharge of inorganic mercury from a chlor-alkali plant during the last 25 years.
Morphological characterization of Eustrongylides sp. larvae (Nematoda, Dioctophymatoidea) parasite of Rhinella marina (Amphibia: Bufonidae) from Eastern Amazonia.
Absctract Eustrongylides spp. nematodes have birds as final hosts and uses other vertebrates as intermediate/paratenic host (fish, amphibians and reptiles) and have zoonotic potential. In amphibians, the larvae may be located in the subcutaneous tissues, liver and mesentery, between the muscle fibres, especially in the lower limbs. Rhinella marina, which is widely observed in Brazil, has exhibited complex diversity in its helminth fauna, reflecting the unique habitat of the Amazon biome. For the first time, this study describes the morphological aspects of third-stage larvae of Eustrongylides sp. in Rhinella marina from Santa Cruz do Ararí, Marajó Archipelago, Eastern Amazonia, using light and scanning electron microscopy.