ERYTHROSINE B IN THE ENVIRONMENT. REMOVAL PROCESSES

Abstract

This paper presents a comparison of the results obtained for different methods used for the decolorization of the food dye Erythrosine B.  Erythrosine B is a red odorless powder used in food industry as a colloring substance. Erythrosine B, also known as E 127, consists essentially of disodium 2-(2,4,5,7-tetraiodo-6-oxido-3-oxoxanthen-9-yl) benzoate  monohydrate  and  subsidiary  coloring  matters  together  with  water,  sodium  chloride  and sodium sulphate as the  principal uncolored components. The methods  considered  in this  paper were sorption, biodegradation and photodegradation. Sorption demonstrated good removal efficiency in the presence of low-cost activated carbon from agro-waste but the treatment increases the operation cost. Because  of  Erythrosine  B  toxicity  aerobic  biodegradation  processes  showed  to  be  inefficient  in  the most  studies.  Considering  this,  Erythrosine  B degradation  could  be  performed  by  photodegradation process using an adequate catalyst in order to reduce the operation cost.