Chapter 16
Toxicity and Histopathological Effect
of Distillery Industrial Sludge
on the Earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae
Susila Sugumar, Selvakumar Muniraj, Tamilselvi Duraisamy,
Ramarajan Selvam, and Vasanthy Muthunarayanan
Abstract Distillery sludge contains good nutrition because it is agro-based industrial waste and it has been recommended as a potential soil conditioner. Simultaneously, they contain heavy metals also. Hence, they need proper treatment before
their usage as a soil conditioner and plant nutrient. However, the metal reduction in
sludge was directly related to the bioaccumulation of metals in the tissues of
composting earthworms. The inoculated earthworms showed a considerable level
of Cd, Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu in their tissues and metallothionein protein was increased
in the final when compared to initial. Histology and bioaccumulation factors also
confirmed that the DSV1 (distillery sludge vermicompost set 1) inoculated earthworm’s tissues were severely damaged than the DSV2 (distillery sludge
vermicompost set 2) because of their concentration. Finally, we conclude that
earthworms could be used effectively for removal of heavy metals from distillery
industrial sludge.
Keywords Distillery industrial sludge · Vermicompost · Heavy metal · Histology
16.1 Introduction
In India, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has stated that distilleries are
one of the industries that contribute to environmental pollution. The higher quantity
of yeast sludge and spent malt grain add up to pollution. However, the sludge is
reported to contain appreciable amount of nutrients, which can be used for promoting the growth of crops and yield. However, proper treatment of the sludge is
essential because it contains not only nutrients but also heavy metals (Suthar
S. Sugumar · S. Muniraj · T. Duraisamy · R. Selvam · V. Muthunarayanan (*)
Water and Solid Waste Processing Lab, Department of Environmental Biotechnology,
Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India
e-mail: vasanthy@bdu.ac.in
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. A. Bhat et al. (eds.), Earthworm Assisted Remediation of Effluents and Wastes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4522-1_16
269
Toxicity and Histopathological Effect
of Distillery Industrial Sludge
on the Earthworm Eudrilus eugeniae
Susila Sugumar, Selvakumar Muniraj, Tamilselvi Duraisamy,
Ramarajan Selvam, and Vasanthy Muthunarayanan
Abstract Distillery sludge contains good nutrition because it is agro-based industrial waste and it has been recommended as a potential soil conditioner. Simultaneously, they contain heavy metals also. Hence, they need proper treatment before
their usage as a soil conditioner and plant nutrient. However, the metal reduction in
sludge was directly related to the bioaccumulation of metals in the tissues of
composting earthworms. The inoculated earthworms showed a considerable level
of Cd, Zn, Fe, Mn and Cu in their tissues and metallothionein protein was increased
in the final when compared to initial. Histology and bioaccumulation factors also
confirmed that the DSV1 (distillery sludge vermicompost set 1) inoculated earthworm’s tissues were severely damaged than the DSV2 (distillery sludge
vermicompost set 2) because of their concentration. Finally, we conclude that
earthworms could be used effectively for removal of heavy metals from distillery
industrial sludge.
Keywords Distillery industrial sludge · Vermicompost · Heavy metal · Histology
16.1 Introduction
In India, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has stated that distilleries are
one of the industries that contribute to environmental pollution. The higher quantity
of yeast sludge and spent malt grain add up to pollution. However, the sludge is
reported to contain appreciable amount of nutrients, which can be used for promoting the growth of crops and yield. However, proper treatment of the sludge is
essential because it contains not only nutrients but also heavy metals (Suthar
S. Sugumar · S. Muniraj · T. Duraisamy · R. Selvam · V. Muthunarayanan (*)
Water and Solid Waste Processing Lab, Department of Environmental Biotechnology,
Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India
e-mail: vasanthy@bdu.ac.in
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to
Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
S. A. Bhat et al. (eds.), Earthworm Assisted Remediation of Effluents and Wastes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4522-1_16
269