Environmental analysis, health and toxicology最新文献

The first COVID-19 case in Algeria, was registered on February 25, 2020, it concerns an Italian national. On November 5, 2020, the total number of infected persons reached 60169 cases and keeps on rising to the point that the curve does not follow the normal law. The present work tries to illustrate another implication caused by the coronavirus pandemic. We focus on the amount of waste produced during the containment caused by the coronavirus epidemic. Targeting three engineered landfill centers (ELCs) located in northeastern Algeria occupying three important wilayas (states) that are Guelma, Eltaref and Annaba, in different population densities. A variable trend increase in household waste quantity is determined during this study. Guelma shows an increase of about 20%, however, Eltaref shows an increase of 11%, while Annaba shows an increase of about 14%. An increase of the quantities of waste entering the landfills during the pandemic, which will have enormous impacts on technical management, on the leachate flow with its heavy environmental impacts and which will cause an early saturation of the cells, especially with the stopping of the recycling process due to security measures. This study highlights the need to re-examine the current management system in order to better manager similar crises in the future.

Several millions of people are exposed to cadmium worldwide due to natural and anthropogenic activities that led to their widespread distribution in the environment and have shown potential adverse effects on the kidneys, liver, heart and nervous system. Recently human and animal-based studies have been shown that In utero and early life exposure to cadmium can have serious health issues that are related to the risk of developmental disabilities and other outcomes in adulthood. Since, cadmium crosses the placental barrier and reaches easily to the fetus, even moderate or high-level exposure of this metal during pregnancy could be of serious health consequences which might be reflected either in the children's early or later stages of life. Mortality from various diseases including cancer, cardiovascular, respiratory, kidney and neurological problems, correlation with In utero or early life exposure to cadmium has been found in epidemiological studies. Animal studies with strong evidence of various diseases mostly support for the human studies, as well as suggested a myriad mechanism by which cadmium can interfere with human health and development. More studies are needed to establish the mechanism of cadmium-induced toxicity with environmentally relevant doses in childhood and later life. In this review, we provide a comprehensive examination of the literature addressing potential long- term health issues with In utero and early life exposure to cadmium, as well as correlating with human and animal exposure studies.

The study aims to investigate the effect of modern technology in the trigger of migraine headaches in high school students by using generalized estimating equation analysis. The prospective time series study was conducted in one hundred and forty-five smartphones using high school students in Chiang Mai Province who each completed a headache diary giving a total of 12,969 data entries. The smartphone output power was measured and recorded by a smartphone application. Smartphone use, sleep quality, anxiety, and depression also were assessed. Results revealed that the prevalence of repeated headache be 13.4% and migraine 16.9%. The migraine had the strongest association with handfree device use and internet use, followed by age and anxiety. Furthermore, the strongest effect of smartphone output power in triggering a migraine was found at ≤ 1.79×10-5 and 1.80-1.99×10-5 mW ranges. Meanwhile, Lag_6 of daily smartphone output power exposure produced the migraine effect in a reverse dose-response manner. The smartphone electromagnetic radiation was a primary migraine trigger. The study results led to the recommendation to avoid triggers by use of smartphone talking with hand-free devices to prevent a recurrent migraine.

The wastewater generated from textile factories is linked to one of the main water pollution problems; therefore, it is important to reduce the pollutants in industrial effluents before their discharge into environment. The present study was to investigate the appropriateness zeolite-x and kaolin as effective adsorbents for removal of methylene blue from the textile wastewater. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to assess parameters that influence the adsorption process. The prepared zeolite-x and kaolin were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared and X-ray diffraction techniques. The results of this study showed that the particle size is 40.77 nm and 0.45 nm kaolin and zeolite-x respectively. The performance of zeolite-x adsorbent is best at the optimum pH 4 with removal efficiency of 97.77% and kaolin adsorbent at pH 6 with removal efficiency of 86.86%. The optimum contact time was obtained at 60 and 80 minutes for zeolite-x and kaolin respectively. While optimum adsorbent dosage was obtained at 0.4 and 0.6 grams with removal efficiency of 97.12% and 87.75% for the zeolite-x and kaolin adsorption experiment respectively. The confirmed square sum errors values are 1.0×10-4 and 1.0×10-3 for zeolite-x and kaolin, respectively. The Adsorption isotherms results have well fitted to Freundlich isotherm than Langmuir isotherm. The adsorption kinetics results were best fitted the pseudo second order model. The result shows that the zeolite-x has high removal efficiency than kaolin at the same operating conditions. Application of this method can be economically, environmentally, and socially feasible to address wastewater problems. Further research has to be carried out on the removal capacity of this adsorbent for organic dyes not only from the textile industry but also from leather industries and soap industries.

Pesticides are a vital component of modern agriculture. So, these chemical compounds could play a crucial role in maintaining high agricultural productivity. However, high-input intensive agricultural production systems in which more effective and widespread use of pesticides could harm human health and the environment. As we know, most of the farmers in developing countries used pesticides without taking the necessary precautions. The present study aims to assess farmers' knowledge and understand the pattern of use of pesticides in Oriental Morocco. We based our approach on a standardized questionnaire with 140 farmers to evaluate their knowledge, attitude, and awareness about the pictograms used on pesticide labels. The results show that the farmer had a low level of education; only 14% were in university. More than 65% overuse pesticides and 60% did not respect the pre-harvest interval. Many farmers did not know the standard pictograms used on pesticide labels, 90% acknowledged only the crossbones and the fire sign, and 33% gave false interpretation or misunderstood these pictograms. These results show that the farmers in Eastern Morocco seem to be ignorant of pesticide danger and lack of safety education. They have no idea how to deal with the pictogram on the pesticide label. Pesticide safety education is necessary to induce protective behavior among farmers and prevent the residue of pesticides in foodstuff. The comprehension of pictograms on pesticide labels is crucial to reduce the risk of poisoning.

This rapid systematic review aims to summarize studies of human exposure to microplastics (MPs) and their health effects. For the systematic literature review, we separately searched for review articles and original articles published from 2000 to 2019 in the PubMed, NDSL, KMBASE, and Cochrane databases. A total of 276 review articles and 475 original articles were independently evaluated and eligibility of each article was assessed by two researchers. Finally, 8 review articles and 13 original articles were selected for analysis. There was no standardized methodology for determining human exposure to MPs. Therefore, the size, shape, color, and chemical composition of MPs were considered as factors that affected human exposure to MP. We ascertained that human exposure to MPs occurs through two major routes: inhalation and ingestion. The general population can be exposed to MPs through the food chain, food, and mineral water. Thus, there are multiple scenarios for the exposure process. The only exposure marker in humans is the detection and measurement of MPs in feces. Health effects of human exposure to MPs include respiratory effects from inhalation, digestive effects from ingestion, oxidative stress, and cancer. However, there are few studies of the effects of MP exposure in the general population. Based on a systematic review, we propose a standardized methodology to identify various exposure scenarios to facilitate studies of human exposure to MPs and their health effects.

Exposure to ambient particulate matter is a major health risk factor for numerous diseases, including those of the cardiovascular and respiratory varieties. The aim of this study was to estimate the latest global research activities regarding particulate matter and health impact. We performed a bibliometric analysis of this field's scientific publication trends over a decade (2009-2018). Publications were retrieved from the Scopus and Web of Science databases using the search terms "particulate matter," "fine particulate matter," "health impact," and their synonyms. The literature on health impact in the research fields of particulate matter (PM10) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) trended to significantly increase over the decade in consideration. It appears to have been led by researchers of the United States and China. Worldwide research on particulate matter and health effects has focused primarily on respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The precursors to and components of particulate matter (such as nitrogen dioxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, sulfur dioxide, and black carbon) were also popular research topics in this field. Research on children, older adults, and pregnant women, who are most vulnerable to the health effects of air pollution, has increased dramatically over the past 10 years. Our findings provide the information necessary to predict unmet research topics and future research needs.

Twenty different batches of gels containing metaxalone and diclofenac potassium were prepared for topical application. These drugs act synergistically in the management of pain and inflammation. Gels were prepared by varying the type of gelling agent (ten batches each of hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose and carbopol 934). The prepared gels were characterized and evaluated. Batch F7 emerged as the best batch on the basis of favourable pH, high drug content, homogeneity and drug release. HPLC (High-performance liquid chromatography) method validation of gel formulation was also carried out and the developed and validated method was found to be robust and accurate.

On concurring to the current evidence, the myriad of vulnerable COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 19) transmission is acquiring through human-to-human transmission through droplets, which is depicting devastating pandemic. Urbanization and industrialization are the major contributing factors to the on-going change in global climate, with increased air pollution and poor air quality. As the global climate and air quality deteriorate, air pollutants remain as a fundamental concern to public health. Air pollution has been globally acknowledged as a major influence and exacerbating factor for human morbidity and mortality influenced on various respiratory diseases such as lung cancer, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, pneumonia, asthma, and influenza. Patients by long - term exposure to polluted air leads to chronic lung and heart conditions are less able to fight off lung infections and likely to die. Polluted air in developed countries is causing heart and lung damage and is responsible for early deaths in a year. This is also likely the case for COVID-19. The more severe impact by COVID-19 on city dwellers and those exposed to toxic fumes leads to the primary health damage such as respiratory infections than on others. The health damage inflicted on people by long-standing air pollution in cities is likely to increase the death rate by COVID-19. By lowering air pollution levels probability to reduce the spread of most vulnerable viruses by aerosol to fight against any possible future pandemics.

Ambient air pollution (AAP), as an important environmental health problem, affects everyone. A large body of literature links AAP, such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3), with a wide range of non-communicable diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of the pollutants on the bone metabolism biochemical parameters in a rat model. Thirty-two male Wistar rats were divided to four groups: control, SO2 (10 ppm), O3 (0.6 ppm), and AAP groups. After 5 weeks of exposure (3 hours/day, 6 days/week), blood samples were taken, and biochemical parameters were assayed. Vitamin D level of the AAP group was higher than the control and SO2 groups (p=0.004 and 0.003). Parathyroid hormone (PTH) level of the O3 group was significantly higher than the AAP group (p=0.006). Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), phosphorus, magnesium levels of the SO2 group; Vit D, ALP, osteocalcin (OC), and PTH of O3 group; and OC and osteoprotegerin (OPG) of AAP group were higher than those of control group but differences were not significant. Calcium level of the SO2 group; OPG and calcium of O3 group; and PTH of AAP group were less than those of control group but differences were not significant (p>0.05). The results showed significant effect of AAP with natural daylight on vitamin D and also O3 on PTH of the rats. In the concentrations and conditions of the study, we didn't find any significant unwanted effects of AAP, SO2, and O3 on the bone biochemical parameters. More investigations with more concentrations and exposure time are recommended.