Levels are “three times higher than what we’re allowed to shower in, or drink,” UMass Amherst researcher says.
Levels are “three times higher than what we’re allowed to shower in, or drink,” UMass Amherst researcher says.
Textile wastewater treatment practices inadvertently produce toxic byproducts—including chloroform and bromoform—at alarming levels that pose a clear occupational health hazard and lead to unknown environmental effects downstream. University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers have found.
“As we did our research, we started to uncover that, in industrially relevant concentrations, a huge amount of byproducts are formed,” says Sean McBeath, assistant professor in the Riccio College of Engineering at UMass Amherst. “The focus of the paper really was the occupational hazards from formed byproducts on the people working in these factories.”
The textile industry accounts for as much as 20% of the world’s wastewater, according to the World Bank. Previous research has shown that textile wastewater can be harmful to the environment, crop production and human health. In an attempt to treat wastewater before it enters the environment, companies have turned to electrochemical methods, essentially zapping the water with electricity to break down the dyes.
Read More: University of Massachusetts Amherst
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