Environmental and human health hazard of textile synthetic dyes and some solutions for their elimination

Along its history, the textile industry has been known for the high pollution generated. Starting with the fiber production, it continues during the textile materials fabrication and finishing operations. The dyeing process is one of the most polluting steps, with textile synthetic dyes playing an important role due to their stability and difficult degradation which sometimes leads to more toxic compounds. This review paper presents the state of art concerning textile dyes and their toxicity caused by their chemical structures and the tinctorial properties. It presents the results regarding dye toxicity based on papers published mostly in the last 5 years. The influence of textile dyes on the environment (air, water, soil) and ecological systems, as well as the human health hazard, described in recent literature, is discussed. Some tests for measuring the toxicity are also presented. Solutions for textile dye degradation to mineralization are compared. The urgent need to find the best solution for solving the problem of textile dye risk concerning the environment and human health is underlined.