Research Publications (Food Safety)

Phthalic acid ester (PAE), a plasticizer, is increasingly being detected in different environments. These compounds can gravely affect the human endocrine system. The present study aims to prepare adsorbents that can effectively adsorb PAE pollutants. To fabricate a better carbon structure than conventional biochar, the sodium hydroxide solution was used as a hydrolyzing agent to pretreat the biomass in order to weaken the bonds in lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose.

Antibiotics are among the prominent class of pharmaceuticals considered emerging pollutants. This class of compounds has found its way into diverse arrays of water bodies in the environment due to their incomplete decomposition, and also the indiscriminate disposal of pharmaceutical waste from industries, farms, and medical centers. This is often through soluble reactive effluent, water run-offs due to rainfall on agricultural facilities and untreated sewages.

A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the phytoremediation efficacies of seven weed plant species, viz., Bidens pilosa L., Chenopodium album L., Malvastrum coromandelianum L., Garcke, Oxalis corniculata L., Parthenium hysterophorus L. (an invasive species), Polypogon monspeliensis L., and Rumex dentatus L., against heavy metals like chromium (Cr) and Nickel (Ni).

The level of pollution and the variability of rainwater runoff quality collected in reservoirs next to the new Lublin bypass (south-eastern Poland) were assessed in this scientific paper. In the rainwater harvesting and treatment system, two types of reservoirs with different construction, size and presence of pre-treatment devices were used. Laboratory tests involved selected physical, oxygen, biogenic, salinity indicators, heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Soil amendments can be an effective and low-cost treatment to reduce metal bioavailability of contaminated dredged sediments disposed on land. The effect of green waste compost addition on Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn extractability and bioaccumulation in lettuce was studied in a greenhouse experiment, using dredged sediments from different sites of the Matanza-Riachuelo River (Argentina). Moreover, the effect of compost addition in lettuce morphological and biochemical variables was analyzed.

The potential of two aquatic plants, e.g., Typha angustifolia and Acorus calamus, and a terrestrial plant, e.g., Pandanus amaryllifolius, was evaluated in hydroponic experiments for rhizofiltration of cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn). Of the three species, T.

Fish are an important food and economic source in the Amazon region. However, several researches report high levels of mercury, mainly methylmercury (MeHg), in these animals. MeHg is capable of biomagnifying in the ecosystem and negatively affect human health. Amazon region is recognized for its great diversity of fish species and high daily consumption of fish, extremely vulnerable to the toxic effects of MeHg.

Metal mining extraction and concentration need water. The recycling of liquid effluents reduces its consumption. This recycled water must contain low concentrations of metals. This project’s first objective was to start up a laboratory-scale upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor for biotransforming metal sulfates into metal sulfides of effluent from flotation units of a mining plant (FE).

Intensified vehicular traffic causes increased heavy metal contamination of the environment. We investigated the heavy metal chemistry of soils located under silver fir stands in the vicinity of Poland’s S7 roadway. Three sampling sites were located in fir stands in central Poland. Fieldwork included soil sampling of the organic (O) horizon and mineral (A) topsoil.

Decachlorobiphenyl (DCB) is one of the 209 polychlorinated biphenyls congeners characterized by its high toxicity and chemical stability. It is produced by industrial activities. A possible strategy to eliminate DCB is by bacterial degradation. The main objective of this study was to define the optimal conditions for biodegradation and bioaccumulation of DCB by Pseudomonas extremaustralis ADA-5 isolated from a worm intestine.

Abstract

The elemental analysis of road dust can be used to determine the contribution of traffic-related metal emissions to the local environment. Previous studies have shown that brake wear, tire wear, and lead wheel weights release significant amounts of metals that lead to decreased biodiversity and degradation of urban streams. Highway pavement has not previously been considered as a source of metal inputs into the environment.

Phosphate (PO43−) and nitrate (NO3−) contamination causes the threatening issue of eutrophication. A major waste from seafood industries of various seashells including Anadara inaequivalvis, Saccostrea commercialis, Perna viridis, Tegillarca granosa, Filopaludina martensi, Babylonai areolate and Meretrix lusoria was thermally modified and investigated for PO43− and NO3− removal from synthetic and domestic wastewater.

The research aims to analyse the treatment possibility of Cd-polluted soil using electrokinetics driven by solar power in comparison with driving by direct current power. Meanwhile, the effects of electrolyte on electrokinetics were investigated. Five runs of electrokinetics were carried out using different electrolytes and energy sources.

Abstract

Plastic debris sized from 0.33 to 5 mm or so-called microplastic is an abundant environmental pollutant found worldwide in various ecosystems. The contamination has been threatening animals such as fish, wild birds, domesticated poultry, and waterfowls. This preliminary research aimed to reveal the evidence of microplastic contamination in domesticated duck to prove that plastic contamination has spread massively and depicts how far the local duck ingests microplastic.

Abstract

At present, water pollution becomes a very significant environmental issue. Heavy metals and organic dyes present at higher concentrations in water are dangerous for aquatic life and humanity. Chitosan nanocomposites have been used for the adsorptive removal of heavy metals and dyes due to their improved chemical activity. This paper encompassed the synthesis of chitosan-nSiO2 nanocomposites and was used to examine Cu(II) ion removal capability.

The effectiveness of water management in reducing cadmium (Cd) accumulation in rice grain has mainly been investigated in slightly and moderately contaminated soils but seldom in heavily contaminated soils. In addition, how soil physicochemical properties influence the effectiveness of water management merits investigation. In this study, a pot experiment was performed using six soils of slight (S1), moderate (S2–S5), and heavy (S6) Cd contamination levels and of different properties.

World’s food production relies on crops grown in irrigated land to feed an increasing population. In the long term, irrigation agriculture may cause environmental deterioration to the area (soil degradation, aquifer contamination) and its surroundings (greenhouse gas emission, eutrophication) to compromise crop production.

Abstract

As a tool for assessing water quality in the Arctic Basin, a new technology is proposed based on the coupling of spectral observations of multi-channel optical sensors and mathematical model estimates for the qualitative and quantitative distribution of water pollutants. Adaptive spectrophotometer and spectroellipsometer structures are used to carry out the observations, the operation of which is described in detail.

Due to the inadequate removal rates of drug residues in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), the transition of these compounds into the environment has become a serious environmental problem for ecosystems and public health.

In this study, basic erythrocyte sizes in P. ridibundus individuals inhabiting a polluted area (heavy metals, nitrates, nitrites, and ammonium) in southern Bulgaria were evaluated. The erythrocyte cells’ parameters, erythrocyte length (EL), erythrocyte width (EW), length/width ratio (EL/EW), and erythrocyte size (ES), and nuclear parameters, nucleus length (NL), nucleus width (NW), NL/NW ratio, nucleus size (NS) and NS/ES ratio were either measured or calculated.

This research analyzes the behavior of different diatomite from Peru, and their potential use for the removal of heavy metals from contaminated effluents. Seven different diatomites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, scanning electron microscopy, specific surface area, and cation exchange capacity.