Do or Dye: Synthetic Colours in Wastewater Pose a Threat to Food Chains Worldwide

The ecological and health threats of synthetic dyes entering wastewater systems have been detailed in a new study, which calls for new laws worldwide on water management, and urgent investment in new sustainable treatment processes

Dyes widely used in the textile, food and pharmaceutical industries pose a pressing threat to plant, animal and human health, as well as natural environments around the world, a new study has found.

Billions of tons of dye-containing wastewater enter water systems every year, and a group of researchers from the UK, China, Korea and Belgium say that new sustainable technologies including new membrane-based nano-scale filtration are needed to solve the issue, adding that legislation is needed to compel industrial producers to eliminate colourants before they reach public sewage systems or waterways.

Published on 26 October in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, the study Environmental impacts and remediation of dye-containing wastewater was written by academics from the University of Bath, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, the Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH), and KU Leuven, Belgium.

The research highlights that currently, up to 80% of dye-containing industrial wastewaters created in low- and middle-income countries are released untreated into waterways or used directly for irrigation. The authors say this poses a wide range of direct and indirect threats to human, animal and plant health.