**6. Acceptable limits for the use of cyanide**

There is need for the treatment of wastewater containing cyanide before discharging into the environment to protect water bodies. As a result of this, several countries and environmental bodies have imposed limiting standards for discharging wastewater containing cyanide to main natural water bodies. **Table 1** shows the set acceptable discharge limits of total cyanides by different organisations.


**Table 1.** Permissible cyanide discharge limits in industrial effluents.

In view of the data outlined in **Table 1**, strategies aimed at cyanide recovery and removal need to be adopted to maintain concentrations within regulatory limits.
