Prominent Pollutants Research Articles

Kosakonia arachidis: Shielding Vigna radiata in metal-stressed Hydroponics

The process of modernization and industrialization has indeed heightened environmental toxicity. Deterioration of plant growth and nutrient uptake has resulted in adverse effects on human health. Heavy metals are the most prominent pollutants. Elevated levels of heavy metals can surpass essential elements, leading to deficiencies in plant nutrition and hindering growth. The objective of the study was to extract bacteria that are resistant to zinc and cadmium from fields located in close proximity to the Malviya Nagar industrial zone in Jaipur. After collecting a soil sample, colonies were isolated on nutrient agar medium with varying amounts of heavy metals. Characterization of well-defined colonies was conducted using morphological and biochemical methods, and identification of resistant bacteria was performed using advanced bacterial isolation software (ABIS). Azohydromonas lata, Kosakonia arachidis, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were the prominent bacterial species found to have a similarity value over 90%. Among all the bacteria that were identified, Kosakonia arachidis was selected for additional investigation due to the scarcity of studies conducted on this bacterium for the purpose of mitigating heavy metal contamination from soil. The study aimed to assess its capacity to enhance the development of mung beans in non-circulating hydroponic systems under zinc and cadmium stress conditions. The presented study demonstrates the remarkable capacity of Kosakonia arachidis to facilitate plant growth in environments characterized by zinc concentrations of 1000 ppm and cadmium concentrations of 300 ppm. This characteristic renders it a highly promising and pragmatic choice for biofertilizer utilization in plants experiencing stress caused by heavy metals.

Removal of ionic and colloidal 110 mAg from radioactive wastewater using radiografted chelating adsorbents

This research investigates the performance of new radiografted materials as adsorbents for ionic and colloidal 110 mAg, a prominent pollutant in pressurized water reactor (PWR) wastewater. A comparative analysis was conducted to evaluate their effectiveness against commercially available resins. Due to the increasing demand for new nuclear power plants and the growing global dependence on nuclear energy, it is crucial to minimize radioactive waste production. The study was conducted on simulated inactive and radioactive waste samples with trace amounts of 110 mAg that are hard or impossible to detect by standard analytic techniques. The synthesized materials were labeled PGE (amine functional groups) and PGM (sulfhydryl and amine functional groups). Functionalization with amine and sulfhydryl groups was chosen since it is well known that these groups strongly interact with Ag in both ionic and colloidal form. The tested materials demonstrate exceptional performance as adsorbents by completely removing (100 %) both ionic (PGM) and colloidal (PGE) forms of 110 mAg. Additionally, depending on the adsorbed species excellent elution of 110 mAg was achieved (>94 % for ions and >50 % for colloids) implying possible material reusability. Manufacturing cost of such adsorbents is orders of magnitude lower per kg (10 – 50 $/kg), compared to prices of commercial resins (100 – 10000 $/kg). These results indicate that such inexpensive materials could potentially be used in an efficient and selective way to treat PWR wastewater for 110 mAg contamination while reducing the operating cost and minimizing resulting solid waste.

Selection of interpolation technique for spatial distribution of prominent pollutant in a traffic induced polluted area

Selection of interpolation technique for spatial distribution of prominent pollutant in a traffic induced polluted area

Association of ambient air pollution and pregnancy rate among women undergoing assisted reproduction technology in Fujian, China: A retrospective cohort study

BackgroundPrevious studies have reported the impact of ambient air pollutants on assisted reproduction. They concentrated on highly polluted environments and individual pollutants. It is unclear whether these effects continue at lower levels and as mixed effects. We aimed to study the influence of lower pollutant concentrations on pregnancy rates and identify vulnerable populations. MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study involving 9465 patients with infertility who received treatment from a local hospital between 2015 and 2021. Daily average levels of six pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, NO2, CO, SO2, and O3) were collected from air quality monitoring stations. We employed generalized linear regression models (logistic, linear, and lasso), weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression, and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) to assess the impact of pollutants on pregnancy rates. Additionally, stratified analyses were performed to identify potentially vulnerable populations. ResultsFindings from the generalized linear models revealed a significant negative correlation between interquartile range increment exposure to PM2.5 (OR = 1.17, 95 % CI = 1.09–1.26), PM10 (OR = 1.18, 95 % CI = 1.11–1.26), NO2 (OR = 1.21, 95 % CI = 1.13–1.30), CO (OR = 1.02, 95 % CI = 1.00–1.03), SO2 (OR = 1.11, 95 % CI = 1.05–1.17) and pregnancy rate when considering the effects of individual pollutants. The WQS index exhibited a negative correlation with pregnancy rates and the number of oocytes retrieved (aOR = 1.20, 95 % CI = 1.08–1.34). BKMR analyses indicated an overall significant trend of decreasing pregnancy rates as pollutant concentrations increased across percentiles. Stratified analysis unveiled heightened sensitivity to pollutants among individuals aged ≥35 years. ConclusionsBy comparing results obtained from diverse models, we observed that exposure to lower levels of air pollutants led to decreased pregnancy rates. Notably, PM10, NO2, SO2, and CO emerged as the four most prominent pollutants in this context. Moreover, stratified analyses highlighted that individuals aged ≥35 years exhibited heightened susceptibility to pollutants.

Dynamic characteristics of net anthropogenic phosphorus input to the upper Yangtze River Basin from 1989 to 2019: Focus on the phosphate ore rich area in China

Phosphorus (P), a non-renewable essential resource, faces heavy exploitation and contributes to eutrophication in aquatic environments. Assessing P input is vital for a healthier P cycle in the Upper Yangtze River (UYR), a phosphate ore rich basin, where P mining and P chemical enterprises have prominent pollution problems. This study modified the net anthropogenic phosphorus input (NAPI) model to include ore mining P input (Pore). We analyzed the evolutionary characteristics of P input in five sub-basins of UYR from 1989 to 2019 using prefecture-level data, and assessed the uncertainty of the data. NAPI in all sub-basins exhibited an upward and then downward trend during 1989–2019, with the inflection point occurring in 2015 or 2016, showing a net increase of about 1.1 times (568–1162 kg P km−2 yr−1) in the whole UYR basin. Among the components of NAPI, P fertilizer inputs (Pfer) and food/non-food and feed P inputs (Pf/nf&feed) contributed comparably, though the growth rate of Pfer was most notable basin-wide. Pore proportion increased significantly (about 3-fold), with a peak of 20%, especially in Wujiang sub-basin. The multi-year (1989–2019) average NAPI in UYR rose sequentially from west to east, with hotspot areas mainly concentrated in the Sichuan-Chongqing urban agglomeration and cities of Hubei province. The regional P input closely related to the population density and the level of agricultural development, certainly the phosphate mining was also unignorable. This study emphasizes that based on current status of NAPI development in UYR, targeted management for different regions should focus on improving agricultural P use efficiency and rational exploitation of P mineral resources.

Electrochemical Upcycling of Pollutants

The electrochemical conversion of pollutants provides a new and powerful way to upcycle these harmful substances into valuable intermediates. Electrosynthesis represents a future technology, which is characterized by its outstanding sustainability.[1] After carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide is the most prominent pollutant in flue gas. The direct electrochemical incorporation into more elaborated molecules has started recently.[2] The anodic conversion of arenes and subsequent reaction with sulfur dioxide adducts yield sulfonamides,[3] sulfonates,[4] and sulfamides.[5] Another pollutant from the era of highly chlorinated pesticides is hexachloro-cyclohexane. The non-suitable isomers of Lindane were piled-up in larges deposits ranging >7 Mio. t. By e-shuttle this can be converted to non-fossil benzene source.[6] The talk will discuss in detail the mechanistic details which led to greener processes.

Understanding microplastic pollution of marine ecosystem: a review.

Microplastics are emerging as prominent pollutants across the globe. Oceans are becoming major sinks for these pollutants, and their presence is widespread in coastal regions, oceanic surface waters, water column, and sediments. Studies have revealed that microplastics cause serious threats to the marine ecosystem as well as human beings. In the past few years, many research efforts have focused on studying different aspects relating to microplastic pollution of the oceans. This review summarizes sources, migration routes, and ill effects of marine microplastic pollution along with various conventional as well as advanced methods for microplastics analysis and control. However, various knowledge gaps in detection and analysis require attention in order to understand the sources and transport of microplastics, which is critical to deploying mitigation strategies at appropriate locations. Advanced removal methods and an integrated approach are necessary, including government policies and stringent regulations to control the release of plastics.

O3 transport characteristics in eastern China in 2017 and 2021 based on complex networks and WRF-CMAQ-ISAM

Increasingly prominent pollution levels and strong regional characteristics of O3, especially in economically developed eastern China, called for a regional cooperation strategy based on transport quantification. This study adopted the complex networks to construct the O3 Transport Network (OTN) to explore characteristics in eastern China in the summer of 2017 and 2021, whose results were afterward verified with spatial source apportionment results simulated with WRF-CMAQ-ISAM. As OTN suggested, O3 transport showed stronger and faster characteristics in eastern China in 2021 than in 2017, judging from changes in the network density, number of connections, transport ranges, and transport paths. Among all cluster communities, inland Shandong was the most important O3 transport hub, the Central Community was the largest community, and the Southern Community showed the closest inter-city transport relationships. In- and out-weighted degrees in OTN showed relatively superior consistency with the transport matrix obtained with WRF-CMAQ-ISAM, and can be explained by wind fields. Generally, O3 pollution in the whole eastern China showed more frequent intra-regional transport and more strengthened inter-city correlations in 2021 than in 2017, meanwhile, northerly and southerly cities exhibited strengthening and weakening trends in O3 transport, respectively. Despite the completely different principles of complex networks and air quality models, their results were mutually verifiable. This study presented a comprehensive understanding of O3 transport in eastern China for further formulation of regional collaborative strategies and provided the methodological verification for applying complex networks in the atmospheric environment field.

A Predictive Model of Nutrient Recovery from RAS Drum-Screen Effluent for Reuse in Aquaponics

Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) optimizes growth parameters for vegetable and aquaculture production and can be used to address growing global food insecurity. Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) generate a nutrient-dense effluent that may result in environmental pollution, but with treatment and integration with hydroponic vegetable production may be repurposed as a naturally derived nutrient solution. This work developed a preliminary model using the system feed rate to calculate a plant-essential nutrient discharge rate in RAS effluent. Loading rate equations were created to calculate the daily mass of nutrients entering the system through fish feed, and discharge rate equations were created to calculate the grams of each nutrient discharged in the effluent per kilogram of feed. Data from previous published work were used for validation. The loading-rate percentage discharged for nutrients present in the effluent was between 2.71% and 64.5%, with several nutrients being prominent pollutants and all being required for vegetable growth. This work provides the preliminary framework for calculating nutrient discharge rates, which can be used to mitigate pollution or develop more precise, naturally derived hydroponic nutrient solutions for a circular bioeconomy in CEA.

Rapid Determination of Nitrate Nitrogen Isotope in Water Using Fourier Transform Infrared Attenuated Total Reflectance Spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) Coupled with Deconvolution Algorithm.

Nitrate is a prominent pollutant in water bodies around the world. The isotopes in nitrate provide an effective approach to trace the sources and transformations of nitrate in water bodies. However, determination of isotopic composition by conventional analytical techniques is time-consuming, laborious, and expensive, and alternative methods are urgently needed. In this study, the rapid determination of 15NO3- in water bodies using Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) coupled with a deconvolution algorithm and a partial least squares regression (PLSR) model was explored. The results indicated that the characteristic peaks of 14NO3-/15NO3- mixtures with varied 14N/15N ratios were observed, and the proportion of 15NO3- was negatively correlated with the wavenumber of absorption peaks. The PLSR models for nitrate prediction of 14NO3-/15NO3- mixtures with different proportions were established based on deconvoluted spectra, which exhibited good performance with the ratio of prediction to deviation (RPD) values of more than 2.0 and the correlation coefficients (R2) of more than 0.84. Overall, the spectra pretreatment by the deconvolution algorithm dramatically improved the prediction models. Therefore, FTIR-ATR combined with deconvolution and PLSR provided a rapid, simple, and affordable method for determination of 15NO3- content in water bodies, which would facilitate and enhance the study of nitrate sources and water environment quality management.

Pile driving noise induces transient gait disruptions in the longfin squid (Doryteuthis pealeii)

Anthropogenic noise is now a prominent pollutant increasing in both terrestrial and marine environments. In the ocean, proliferating offshore windfarms, a key renewable energy source, are a prominent noise concern, as their pile driving construction is among the most intense anthropogenic sound sources. Yet, across taxa, there is little information of pile driving noise impacts on organismal fine-scale movement despite its key link to individual fitness. Here, we experimentally quantified the swimming behavior of an abundant squid species (Doryteuthis pealeii) of vital commercial and ecological importance in response to in situ pile driving activity on multiple temporal and spatial scales (thus exposed to differing received levels, or noise-doses). Pile driving induced energetically costly alarm-jetting behaviors in most (69%) individuals at received sound levels (in zero to peak) of 112-123 dB re 1 µm s-2, levels similar to those measured at the kilometer scale from some wind farm construction areas. No responses were found at a comparison site with lower received sound levels. Persistence of swimming pattern changes during noise-induced alarm responses, a key metric addressing energetic effects, lasted up to 14 s and were significantly shorter in duration than similar movement changes caused by natural conspecific interactions. Despite observing dramatic behavioral changes in response to initial pile driving noise, there was no evidence of gait changes over an experiment day. These results demonstrate that pile driving disrupts squid fine-scale movements, but impacts are short-lived suggesting that offshore windfarm construction may minimally impact the energetics of this ecologically key taxon. However, further work is needed to assess potential behavioral and physiological impacts at higher noise levels.

Penal responsibility of oil companies for environmental pollution

Abstract: This research deals with the criminal responsibility of oil companies for polluting the environment. What is meant is the pollution resulting from the work of companies operating in the field of the oil industry, whether it is the extractive or refining industry, the transport and filtration stage, or the petrochemical manufacturing stage, which constitutes the most prominent pollutants in the living environment and the most capable of causing a disruption to the system. The environment and its living and non-living components, and because of this, the investment legislation in Iraq and all countries of the world emphasizes the obligation of investors and companies working in this field to preserve the integrity of the environment. Accordingly, the nature of the subject of this research necessitated its treatment in two sections: In the first section, we dealt with the nature of oil pollution of the environment, and in the second section, we studied the legislative treatment of the crime of environmental pollution by oil companies. Keywords: (environmental pollution, oil companies)

Urban surface water quality and the potential of phytoremediation to improve water quality in peri-urban and urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa – a review

AbstractIn 2017, 400 million people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) were still using unimproved drinking water sources, 80 million of whom relied on untreated surface water. Urban areas are vastly expanding all over the continent and many larger cities in SSA struggle to provide safely managed drinking water. Phytoremediation implemented in constructed wetlands (CWs) is a low-cost and sustainable alternative to highly costly and energy-consuming wastewater treatment plants. In addition, CWs offer the potential to be integrated into farming and aqua-culture systems and can therefore improve food quality and production. The most prominent pollutants in urban SSA surface waters and the pollutant removal efficiencies for microbial and chemical contaminations of different plant species were identified from the literature and the accumulation rates for Pb, Cr, and Cd were compared with each other. A strong focus was given to studies conducted in SSA or other (sub)tropical regions. This review identified a range of potential phytoremediators to treat contaminated surface water and highlights the need for further in situ studies in SSA. Plant species such as Lemna minor, Ipomoea aquatica, Spirodela polyrhiza and Brachiaria mutica show a high potential to phytoremediate the heavy metals Pb, Cr and Cd from surface water.

Method of improving the conversion of Cadmium-containing plant biomass energy under the background of soil pollution

Environmental pollution problems have gradually appeared in the sight of human beings, and environmental pollution problems are also deteriorating, especially soil pollution. The discharge of various metal wastewater makes the metal content of some land on the high side. However, in response to this prominent pollution problem, most of the methods of physical repair and chemical repair are now used. However, these two repair methods have some shortcomings. The method of soil pollution phytoremediation is still under further research. The most suitable method for Cadmium-containing plant biomass energy conversion are find by studying phytoremediation methods. This paper mainly studies the growth of rape and sunflower under different levels of Cadmium (Cd) treatment, improves the analysis of plant height, dry weight of roots and aerial parts, chlorophyll and proline content differences under different concentrations, and finds out the effect of Cd on plant growth. Charcoal, Bacillus subtilis, and earthworms are introduced, and their effects on cadmium-containing plants germination rate and biomass energy conversion are analyzed. The experimental results show that when the treatment level of Cd is 0–10 mg/kg, it can promote the growth of rape and sunflower, and then with the increasing concentration of Cd, the plant height, dry weight and chlorophyll of rape and sunflower decreased continuously, but when the Cd concentration is high, these indicators increased more slowly.

Desulfurization of Morupule Coal with Subcritical Aqueous Ethanol Extraction.

Coal combustion greatly contributes to global emissions of toxic gases into the atmosphere, with sulfur emissions as one of the prominent pollutants in addition to carbon dioxide. Nevertheless, Botswana utilizes Morupule's sub-bituminous coal with average sulfur and ash contents, as determined in this study being 1.9 and 24.4 % by weight with an average calorific value of 22 MJ Kg-1 to generate electricity. We report an optimized extraction method for reducing total sulfur in Morupule coal from 1.9±0.2 to 0.43±0.02 wt.% at optimum conditions of ethanol/water (90/10, v/v %) at 129 °C (105 bars) in 10 minutes. A Box-Behnken experimental design was employed to select the optimal conditions of temperature (100-180 °C), water proportion in ethanol (10-90, v/v %) and extraction time (10-30 minutes), thus reducing the total sulfur under these mild conditions compared to conventional extraction. The optimized conditions were however not efficient in removing ash.

Statistical modeling of complex health outcomes and air pollution data: Application of air quality health indexing for asthma risk assessment


 Background: Statistical models for complex health outcome data analyses with; zero inflation, autocorrelation, confounding, seasonality and delayed exposures, play an important role in accurately assessing air pollution risk, especially in public health warning using national air quality health indices (NAQHI). NAQHI assessment generalizes model estimates across all geographies and seasons and neglects area and season specific variations. The aim is to develop complex statistical models, specific to the complex data structures and to demonstrate effectiveness of the model estimates in public health massage delivery.
 Methods: A time series model was fitted to asthma hospital admissions and ambient air pollution data from two sites, Halifax, an urban, traffic and industry polluted site and Sydney, a rural waste disposal polluted site, in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. I fitted zero inflated, auto regressive, Poisson and Negative Binomial models with lagged effects for sparse asthma admissions and air pollution data and compared the model risk estimates with that of the NAQHI.
 Results: NAQHI used three pollutants, Nitrogen Dioxide, Ozone and particulate matter. I found Carbon monoxide in the urban site and lead in the waste disposal site as prominent pollutants and there were seasonal differences. The findings demonstrated severe under-assessment of asthma relative risk by NAQHI, when prominent pollutants are neglected and also when auto correlation and zero inflation are ignored. 
 Conclusion: This study demonstrated the importance of complex statistical model use and the consequences of lack of such modelling that accounted for data structures in public health risk assessments.

COVID-19 NATIONWIDE LOCKDOWN OF 2020- OBSERVATIONS ON PROMINENT POLLUTANT IN THE COASTAL CITIES OF CHENNAI AND MUMBAI

The pan-India Lockdown of 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic as a turning point in impacting the environment and generating new trends lends it to specific analysis. In this context, the urban scenarios are most widely discussed and the Indian metropolitan cities stand pertinent examination. While many studies exist on analyzing air quality and air quality parameters in distribution and varying trends, works on highlighting the nature of dominant pollutant in time and space is not observed. The current study is distinctive in method as it tends to observe the evolving nature and distribution of primary pollutant in the air of two coastal cities of Chennai and Mumbai for every day of the COVID-19 nationwide Lockdown period of 2020. A comparative analysis is further attempted by taking air quality data for the period of national Lockdown in the matrix of 92*7 plus 92*4 time periods for Mumbai and Chennai respectively. Results reveal that despite being coastal in location, both cities have a distinct nature and distribution of Prominent Pollutant during this period. An examination of such a kind is pertinent in outlining the nature of pollution and its geographical dimensions across an urban area. This can help in the observation and management of pollution problem in a practical dimension.

Heavy metal contaminations of soil in waste dumping and non-dumping sites in Khulna: Human health risk assessment

Potential toxic heavy metals are omnipresent in soil. Risk-based environmental management of soil refers to looking for the sources and exposure routes of heavy metals in human body associating with possible health risks of populace. The level of some heavy metals in waste dumping and non-dumping sites in Khulna was appraised. The soil pollution indices and health risks model were evaluated for the pollution status of soil and health risks among the local people, respectively. The prominent pollution was noticed in Koye Bazar dumping site due to the findings of higher value of geoaccumulation index (Igeo) (0.57), contamination factor (Cf) (2.22), and enrichment factor (EF) (2.52) for lead. The amount of iron in Mohammad Nagar dumpsite was estimated as 34397.00 mg kg−1, whilst the trace amount of Cr (0.39 mg kg−1) was analyzed in Koye bazar waste non-dumping site. The iron content in all dumping sites as well as lead in site-1 (S1) and site-3 (S3) exceeded the safe limit. Health risk indices model revealed that iron might exert the non-carcinogenic effects on both adults and child. But, chromium might have minimum carcinogenic risks (9.47E-07 in site-5) on adults. Besides, target cancer risks (TCR) value revealed that carcinogenic risks of cadmium for child and adults were ranged between 1.41E and 06 for adult in site-4 (S4) to 1.14E-05 for child in site-3 (S3). But, lead had no prominent carcinogenic effects on both child and adults.

COVID-19 NATIONWIDE LOCKDOWN OF 2020- OBSERVATIONS ON PROMINENT POLLUTANT IN THE COASTAL CITIES OF CHENNAI AND MUMBAI

The pan-India Lockdown of 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic as a turning point in impacting the environment and generating new trends lends it to specific analysis. In this context, the urban scenarios are most widely discussed and the Indian metropolitan cities stand pertinent examination. While many studies exist on analyzing air quality and air quality parameters in distribution and varying trends, works on highlighting the nature of dominant pollutant in time and space is not observed. The current study is distinctive in method as it tends to observe the evolving nature and distribution of primary pollutant in the air of two coastal cities of Chennai and Mumbai for every day of the COVID-19 nationwide Lockdown period of 2020. A comparative analysis is further attempted by taking air quality data for the period of national Lockdown in the matrix of 92*7 plus 92*4 time periods for Mumbai and Chennai respectively. Results reveal that despite being coastal in location, both cities have a distinct nature and distribution of Prominent Pollutant during this period. An examination of such a kind is pertinent in outlining the nature of pollution and its geographical dimensions across an urban area. This can help in the observation and management of pollution problem in a practical dimension.

Evaluation on Risk Assessment on Indoor Air Pollution: A Case Study of Delhi-NCR Region

The study is focused at delineating the major causes of air pollutants in Delhi NCR region in different aspects specifically in terms of computation of Air Quality index. The major air eight pollutants are considered for calculation of Air Quality index i.e. CO, NO., SO2, PM2.5, PM10, O3, NH3, and Pb. The prediction of air pollution is performed in two phases. The first phase computes the Air Quality Index values for all the pollutants in a day. The second phase computes threshold value of Air Quality Index as an average of previous values. The air pollution for the days in chosen month is predicted by comparing the threshold value with the average of the previous two-month values. A computer aided program is drafted and compiled on JAVA programming language of Oracle Corporation using BlueJ development environment in order to compute the Air Quality index. The program uses pollutant level values user enters and it analyses the different levels for pollutants and thereafter computes the Air Quality index level of every pollutant and tells the prominent pollutants along with its final computed value. The AQI generated can be used to analyse the level of exposures a person faces in day-to-day life and how remedies can be opted to cure the exposure towards indoor air pollution. The collected pollutants data and computed Air Quality index shows that the people in DELHI-NCR region are exposed to huge air pollution and it is relevant to the indoor air quality also.The study lessening that the air contaminations at indoor, individuals should utilise the clean energies and an improvement should be done in ovens to consume the fuel productively and vent outflows to the outside. Air cleaners that can improve the air quality productively can be helpful to cop up the scenario.