Hen Feather: A Remarkable Adsorbent for Dye Removal - Green Chemistry for Dyes Removal from Wastewater - page 417

intolerance reactions. Patients with problems of aspirin intolerance and
asthma are more prone to the harmful effects of this dye [56,57]. It is also
associated with behavioral problems like hyperactivity. Being an azo dye,
if it enters into the body through ingestion, it metabolizes to aromatic
amines by intestinal microorganisms after reduction. These degradable
products of Amaranth are toxic and can cause tumors [58]. Its reductive
enzymes in the liver can also catalyze the reductive cleavage of the azo
linkage. Chung et al. [59] reported that a wide variety of anaerobic bacte-
ria isolated from caecal or fecal contents from experimental animals and
humans have the ability to cleave the azo linkage(s) to produce aromatic
amines. Chung [59] also reduced Amaranth to aromatic amines by intes-
tinal microflora and reviewed the mutagenicity of the dye. It is now well
established that reductive ring fission of the azo linkage results in the for-
mation and accumulation of colorless aromatic amines [60,61] and these
reduction products are toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic to animals and
humans [62].
The importance of wastewater treatment in the present scenario has
been the initiating factor in research dedicated to the removal of dyes from
wastewater in an effective and efficient manner. The application of dyes in
various fields, their toxicological impact on the environment and living
systems, their separation and identification, along with the removal tech-
niques exploited so far, are thoroughly discussed in the present chapter.

11.2.3 Dye Procurement

Both of the dyes employed in the present investigation were procured from
M/s Merck and have been used as obtained without any further purifica-
tion. All the test solutions employed in the experiments have been pre-
pared using double-distilled water. All other reagents were of A.R. grade.
The pH of each test solution was measured by using a microprocessor-
based pH meter model no. HI 8424 (M/s Henna Instruments, Italy). A UV/
visible spectrophotometer model no. 117 (M/s Systronics, Ahmedabad,
India) was employed to carry out absorbance measurements over the
wavelength range of 200-700 nm for both dyes being investigated for their
absorption ability on Hen Feathers.

11.3 Adsorbent Material - Hen Feather

Amongst all living organisms, it is only birds which have been gifted with
highly decorative, beautiful and soft feathers. In other words, we may also