HONORS PROGRAM Acid-base properties of natural adsorbents of synthetic dyesRada-Mayya Kostadinova1. INTRODUCTIONDyees are synthetic, water-soluble, dispersible organic compounds that cause coloration of natural water bodies when released into the environment. They are widely used in industries such as dyes, textile, rubber, leather, paper, plastic, cosmetics etc., to color their products and are invariably left in industrial waste. Synthetic dyes, suspended solids and dissolved organic substances are the main hazardous materials present in textile effluents. These materials can affect the physical and chemical properties of freshwater. In addition to unwanted colors in textile effluents, some dyes can degrade producing carcinogenic substances and toxic products1. Additionally, colored effluents reduce light penetration and potentially impede photosynthesis. Dyes, even in very low concentrations, affect aquatic life and the food chain2. Therefore, the removal of dyes from process or waste effluents becomes environmentally important. Due to the high degree of organic substances present in these molecules and the stability of modern dyes, conventional physicochemical and biological treatment methods are ineffective for their removal. Adsorption has proven to be one of the most promising and widely used methods for the removal of both inorganic and organic pollutants from contaminated water. Activated carbon is the most used adsorbent for this purpose because it has a high capacity to adsorb organic matter and has been proven effective in the treatment of textile waste3. However, in view of the high costs and associated regeneration problems, there is a constant search for low-cost alternative adsorbents. Such alternatives… half of the article… Jul, M., Laeanjeira, M., Favere, V. Adsorption of Anionic Dyes on the Biopolymer Chitin. (1997) J. Braz. Chemistry. Soc., 9:435-44012. Liu Yi., Zheng Y., Wang, A. Enhanced adsorption of methylene blue from aqueous solution by chitosan-g-poly(acrylic acid)/vermiculite hydrogel composites. (2009) J. Environment. Sci., 22:486-49313. Carpenter J., Sharma S., Sharma AK, Verma,S. Dye adsorption using solid waste from leather industry as adsorbent.(2013) Int. J.Ing. Sci. Invent., 2: Issue 114. Karuppsdsmy.,A Muthirulan,P., Sunduram MM Adsorption kinetics and dynamics of brilliant green dye on various low-cost adsorbents: a comparative study.(2012) J. Chem. And Farm. Res., 12:5101-511015. Mohd Nazdri Idris., Ahmad ZA, Ahmad MA Adsorption equilibrium of malachite green dye on activated carbon based rubber seed coating.(2011) Int. J. Base and Appl Sci., 11:3