Akinsemolu Adenike
Tobacco wastewater contains many toxic chemical compounds, which may have adverse impact on the environment and human health. To study the toxicity or genotoxic potential of the wastewater, biological tests, such as Ames Salmonella test and SOS Chromotest test were employed. The variability of the results obtained from the entire tests, show a correlation of mutagenic and genotoxic potential of the wastewater. Microbiological and physicochemical analyses were also carried out. The wastewater contained a large number of bacteria: (9.78 X 107 ± 2.00 X 107) and fungi: (3.83 X 104 ± 1.10 X 104). Microorganisms isolated from this study are Staphylococcus cohnii, Anaerococcus hydrogenalis, Propionibacterium acne, Proteus vulgaris, Vibrio vulnificus, Penicillium sp., Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus niger and Rhodotorula glutinis. These microorganisms have been linked with varieties of diseases in living organisms. Physicochemical analysis of the wastewater shows that it contained constituents that can induce mutation in living systems. The synergy of all the tests from this study unequivocally confirms that the tobacco wastewater is highly toxic to living organisms. Drastic measures must be taken by tobacco industries to integrate the knowledge and the control of their wastewaters in infection and environmental pollution regulatory programs.
