Evaluation of the potential environmental toxic effects of a nylon fibers additive

New chemical substances being considered for use today are required by law to be evaluated for potential toxic effects upon disposal to the environment. A thorough evaluation, however, is complex, time-consuming, expensive, and impossible to perform on each new substance. In this study the potential toxic effects of a new carpet additive with antimicrobial properties and the associated process waste stream from a textile facility were considered. The wastewater from the rest of the plant was currently being treated in a land application disposal system. An assessment of the toxicity of the antimicrobial additive was made using conventional greenhouse studies. This assessment was compared to the results obtained from three short-term toxicity tests performed on the same set of solutions. The short-term tests used were a corn seedling bioassay, adenosine triphosphate measurements, and bacterial bioluminescence. These short-term tests were evaluated as to their utility as screening tools and as monitoring devices for toxic substances.