Ecotoxicological and Genotoxic Assessment of Hospital Laundry Wastewaters

The aim of the present study was to assess the ecotoxicity and genotoxicity of hospital laundry wastewaters generated from a regional hospital located in Rio Pardo Valley in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Physicochemical, microbiological, ecotoxicological, and genotoxic analyses were performed, and the results indicate that some parameters were not in accordance with the limit concentrations established by Brazilian and international guidelines for urban wastewaters. Daphnia magna (EC 50 2.01 %) and Danio rerio (LC 50 29.25 %) acute toxicity was detected, and sublethal effects were identified in Lactuca sativa (IC 25 12.50 %) and Allium cepa (IC 25 51.25 %). Cytotoxicity was observed at the five wastewater concentrations used yielding statistically significant differences ( p