AccScience Publishing / AJWEP / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/AJWEP025110078
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Eco-friendly treatment of laboratory wastewater using plantain pseudo-stem

Hemalatha Kuppusamy1* ,  Ilangeswaran Dhanasamy2
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1 Department of Chemistry, Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College for Women, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
2 Department of Chemistry, Rajah Serfoji Government College, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India
AJWEP, 025110078 https://doi.org/10.36922/AJWEP025110078
Received: 16 March 2025 | Revised: 4 August 2025 | Accepted: 6 August 2025 | Published online: 28 August 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Chemical waste accumulates in the environment due to the improper disposal of laboratory wastewater. Wastewater generated after inorganic analysis typically contains hardness-causing substances, resulting in elevated oxygen demand. However, conventional wastewater treatment is often prohibitively expensive, especially in resource-limited settings. An eco-friendly method is therefore essential for recycling laboratory wastewater for washing purposes. In this study, laboratory wastewater was treated using a natural adsorbent—raw plantain pseudo-stem (RPPS)—and its powdered form (PPPS). Post-treatment analysis showed significant improvement in the physical and chemical parameters. Water quality indicators, such as pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), turbidity, conductivity, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, and concentrations of heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, iron, and copper), were assessed before and after treatment using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Results showed that both RPPS and PPPS were effective, eco-friendly, and cost-efficient for laboratory wastewater treatment, with PPPS exhibiting superior adsorption performance.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
Plantain pseudo-stem
Natural adsorbent
Wastewater treatment
Total dissolved solids
Biological oxygen demand
Chemical oxygen demand
Funding
This work was partially supported by the MRCC of Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College for Women, Chennai.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
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Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, Electronic ISSN: 1875-8568 Print ISSN: 0972-9860, Published by AccScience Publishing
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