SUBLETHAL EFFECT OF RAW AND NEUTRALIZED PICKLING WASTEWATER ON THE HAEMATOLOGY OF HETEROPNEUSTES FOSSILIS

Abstract

: Based on recorded LC50 values after experimentation sublethal effects of raw and neutralized pickling wastewater of a steel processing industry of Vidarbha region were analyzed using freshwater catfish H.fossilis in long duration experiments for toxicity testing using haematology as a dignostic tool in national environmental engineering research institutute laboratory in nagpur. 1/10 th of 96 hrs. LC50 concentration was selected and used for both raw and neutralized pickling wastewater (0.05% in case of raw wastewater and 1.1% in case of neutralized wastewater) for experimentation purpose. H.fossilis were exposed in a continuous flow (dynamic) bioassay test system and observations on haematological changes in fish blood were recorded after 96 hrs. duration. The general haematological parameters studied include total erythrocyte count, total leucocyte count, haemoglobin content, packed cell volume, clotting time and ESR. The data on fish haematology was analyzed for statistical significance between the control having normal blood chemistry with fish under treatment in chronic exposures by applying students ‘t’ test and significant differences were recorded at 0.01,0.05 and 0.001 levels between control and treated fish blood