Environmental Quality Management最新文献

The goal of the study was to assess the capability of the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa AMBCD-1 for paddy straw degradation as well as its biological control abilities against the plant wilt pathogen Fusarium. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) data showed that AMBCD-1 culture-inoculated treatments dramatically reduced the levels of cellulose, lignin, and hemicelluloses in the deteriorated paddy straw. Additionally, a dual culture technique was utilized to investigate antagonistic activity in vitro using nutritional agar media and potato dextrose agar in equal proportions (1:1) for suppressing the growth of the fungus Fusarium oxysporum and Sclerotium rolfsii in order to assess the biocontrol properties of the chosen bacteria. Following incubation, it was shown that AMBCD-1 exhibited a 66.67% antibacterial activity against the fungus Fusarium oxysporum. Furthermore, the pyocyanin pigment was also extracted from the P. aeruginosa AMBCD-1 strain and confirmed at a mass value of 211.2 using liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS), with its standard peak observed at 1.48 min. The results revealed that bacterium P. aeruginosa AMBCD-1 had the ability to biodegrade paddy straw and also inhibit the appearance of the wilt disease caused by Fusarium species in numerous crops.

Microplastics (MPs) have become a significant environmental concern, but data on their presence in potato gardens are limited. This study aims to identify and quantify MPs in soil, organic fertilizer, irrigation water, and potato plants in potato gardens. Soil, fertilizer, irrigation water, and potato samples were collected from potato fields. Analysis was carried out using a microscope and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to identify the shape, color, quantity, and type of MP polymer. The results indicate significant MPs contamination with the most dominant shape of fibers (86%) and fragments (8%), dominant color black (35%) and blue (27%), abundances of MPs 0.10–9.20 g⁻¹, as well as the presence of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) polymers. These MPs have the potential to harm plant growth and soil quality. MPs are found in significant quantities in potato gardens and have the potential to disrupt agricultural ecosystems. The presence of MPs in potato gardens can affect the quality of agricultural products and human health throughout the food chain.

Fluoride is highly threatening to human health, and it is a serious issue worldwide, especially in India, because several states in India are at high risk of fluoride contamination in drinking water. In this study, the groundwater from Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts was chosen for estimation of quality and fluoride level. The 20 samples were collecetd from two districts, water quality and fluoride were estimated using standard protocols. The results showed that in Dharmapur districts, including Dharmapuri and Morappur, the water quality was very poor and the water was in bad condition, and also the water quality and fluoride levels were above the acceptable limits of WHO and TWAD board norms. In Krishnagiri district, such as Hosur, and Larger domestic water samples were highly polluted. The Pochampalli and Hangar, Anjetti, and area ground waters were in poor condition, the rest of the area's water quality and fluoride level are moderate, and may increase in the upcoming years. The quality of water and fluoride levels have crossed the permissible limits of WHO and TWAD board standards in several sites of Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts. Frequent monitoring, more awareness programs, fluoride removal advanced eco-friendly, and highly efficient technologies are needed to manage these pollutants issues.

One of the most promising nanoscale materials for photodegradation is ruthenium oxide nanoparticles, which are abbreviated as RuO₂ nanoparticles. Ruthenium oxide nanoparticles (RuO₂ NPs) are promising nanomaterials for photodegradation. Several research methods have examined their size, phase study, and shape. We also examined RuO₂ nanoparticle photocatalysis in rhodamine-B (RhB) and acridine orange (AO) dyes degradation. We discovered that these nanoparticles were highly photocatalytic when exposed to UV light. This non-toxic method uses no solvents. Analyzing synthesized RuO₂ nanoparticles required FESEM, XRD, XPS (x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), FTIR (Fourier transform infrared), and UV-visible spectroscopy. The newly synthesized nanoparticles were evaluated for catalytic activity by degrading RhB and AO dyes. After the first-order reaction, kinetics determined the photocatalytic efficiency against RhB and AO dyes, which degraded at 84% and 82%, respectively. A tamarind plant study found no phytotoxicity in treated effluents. RuO₂ catalysts degrade organic dyes in industrial wastewater efficiently and inexpensively. The study shows RuO₂ nanoparticles as very effective photocatalysts for degrading organic dyes, exhibiting better performance than conventional materials. In addition, it assesses the phytotoxicity of RuO₂ nanoparticles, offering valuable information about their environmental consequences and safety for prospective widespread application.

The beer processing industry generates large amounts of effluents rich in organic and inorganic material, and complex and expensive systems are commonly used for their treatment. Therefore, new alternatives capable of ensuring sustainable industrial growth through cost-effective solutions are being studied. In this context, biosurfactants stand out due to their ability to degrade and remove contaminants from the environment. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the potential treatment of effluents from the beer industry using biosurfactants produced from wastewater from the beer industry. The biosurfactants were obtained by submerged cultivation at 30°C for 48 h using the bacterium Corynebacterium aquaticum in a mineral medium added of carbon source. The characterization of the biosurfactants was performed in relation to surface tension, emulsifying activity (EA), pH, and ionic character. The analyses were performed at 0, 24, and 48 h. The efficiency of the effluent treatments was evaluated by characterization in duplicate, before, during and after the treatment, regarding the concentrations of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total solids (TS). The best biosurfactant results were obtained using C. aquaticum in a medium with 10% (v/v) of brewing industry wastewater (BIW) as a carbon source after 48 h of cultivation, reaching a surface tension of 35.1 ± 0.2 mN/m, EA of 40.9 ± 0.5%, and stability under extreme conditions of temperature (−20°C to 121°C), salt (1% to 10%), and pH (4 to 10). Thus, the biosurfactant was applied for 10 days in an aerated biological treatment system. Best results were observed in biosurfactant concentrations of 0.5 CMD (critical micellar dilution), reaching improvement of up to 55.9% for BOD, 23.8% for COD, and 50.6% for TS. Thus, the biosurfactant produced (10% BIW) shows potential as an accelerator in the brewing industry effluent (BIE) treatment process, without purification and sterilization of the biocompound. Therefore, brewery wastewater proved to be a sustainable and nutritional substrate to obtain biosurfactants.

Land use refers to anthropogenic phenomena in the natural environment; humans utilize land resources for their developmental activities. On the other hand, the ecosystems of land use and land cover alter the natural world—the artificial infrastructure leads toward a busted concrete jungle instead of a green footprint. The global green footprint is continually shrinking owing to overutilization of natural resources. The present research examines the land use pattern that changes from 1990 to 2021 and projected projections for 2041 and 2061 in the Ramgarh District. The study also focuses on how artificial modifications alter the concentration level of pollutants in the atmosphere. The Landsat data utilized for 1990, 2000, 2011, and 2021 were incorporated into the LULC map using supervised classification and for analysis of future predictions for 2041 and 2061 using an ANN-based on MLPNNs (multi-layer perceptron neural networks) for Ramgarh District. It also focuses on the trend and patterns of atmospheric pollutants from data using NASA-GIOVANNI MERRA-2. The current study reveals that in 1990, water bodies, coal mining, vegetation, built-up, agriculture, and barren land were 3.01%, 2.24%, 54.07%, 3.64%, 36.85%, and 0.18 %. However, in 2021, water bodies decreased to 1.61%, vegetation to 45.47%, barren land to 0.65%, and an increasing tendency was observed in built-up areas to 6.65%, coal mining to 2.43%, and farmland to 43.19%. A significant trend in atmospheric pollutants, such as CO₂, SO₂, SO₄, NO₂, and dust, is observed in the Ramgarh district. The importance of this study is to attain the maximum level of environmental sustainability; it would also encourage the local level planning fitted during the extraction of natural resources.

Three billion people globally rely on fish and other seafood as a significant source of animal protein. Despite being deemed illegal due to its ability to cause cancer, mutagenesis, and tumor development, formaldehyde is still in use to extend the shelf life of different fish and shellfish, which indicates the failure of awareness among people. Formaldehyde is categorized by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a Group-I human carcinogen. Therefore, we try to summarize the chemistry of formaldehyde, its illegal addition in various food materials leading to adverse health conditions followed by its evaluation at physiological and histological levels in our review with the help of data collected from various research papers, newspaper articles, and online data. We have also highlighted on various environmental factors that play a role in altering the levels of formaldehyde in various food materials. This review also gives an insight into various rules and regulations made to limit the usage of formaldehyde in fish and other seafood at both national and international levels. Our review will help to generate awareness among common people, the establishment of much stronger rules, and regulations on usage of formaldehyde, and finding an alternative for preservation of fish and other food materials.

Recent studies have proven the sensitivity of soil organic carbon (SOC) in responding to variations imposed by tropical forest fragmentation, which may reflect changes in both its quantity and quality. Despite this, studies evaluating soil carbon fractions as an edge effect indicator are still non-existent. We developed this work asking: How do the oxidizable fractions of soil organic carbon (OFSOC) respond to the edge effect in fragments of semi-deciduous seasonal forest? Is this response influenced by the size of the forest fragment? The study was conducted in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia, Brazil, in three forest fragments with different sizes. Thus, three sampling sections were defined in each fragment: edge (0–10 m), transition (40–50 m), and interior. Soil samples were collected at a depth of 0–10 cm. The SOC was divided into three fractions (LC—labile carbon, MLC—moderately labile carbon, and LLC—low labile carbon), adopting the chemical method based on oxidation degrees. Reductions in the SOC (28.2%), LC (17.4%), and MLC content (66.7%) were observed at the edge in the small fragment. There was a reduction of SOC (21.3%) and LLC (39.0%) at the edge in the medium fragment, while MLC showed an increase at the edge (70.4%). The OFSOC were able to respond to the changes imposed by the edge effect, with emphasis on the LC and MLC fractions in smaller fragments. The forest fragment size influenced the level of changes caused by the edge effect in OFSOC, showing greater susceptibility in smaller fragments.

In response to the global challenge of climate change and the drive towards carbon neutrality, this study investigates the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade openness (TO) on carbon emissions (CEM) within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The research spans 18 countries from 1990 to 2022, focusing on Sustainable Development Goal 13. Utilizing Porter's hypothesis and the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) theory, the study applies quantitative methods including panel corrected standard errors (PCSE) and feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) to ensure robustness. To address potential endogeneity, two-stage least squares and lagged effect estimations are employed. The findings reveal that both FDI and TO are associated with reduced CEM, indicating positive environmental impacts. Also, the pairwise causality tests show bidirectional causality between FDI, TO, and CEM, while a unidirectional causality is found from industrialization (IND) and energy consumption (EC) to CEM. These results underscore the importance of integrating FDI and TO into strategies for achieving carbon neutrality and advancing sustainable development goals, offering actionable insights for policymakers.

Microplastics and metals represent widespread contaminants which can cause significant damage to aquatic ecosystems and organisms. However, the complex interactions between microplastics and various metals in water environments remains to be understood. This study aims to investigate the interaction dynamics between lead(II) ions and polyethylene in freshwater environments. Adsorption trials were conducted systematically by adjusting operational parameters such as initial Pb(II) concentration, equilibrium pH value, and residence times. An in-depth characterization study using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis was conducted to explain the adsorption mechanism of polyethylene microplastics (PEM). The data indicated the porous surface of PEM, highlighting the presence of diverse functional groups. According to the Langmuir model, the PEM exhibited maximum Pb(II) uptake of 3.69 mg/g at pH 4.5. The pseudo-first-order model demonstrated superior fitting to Pb(II)-PEM kinetics. Desorption trials were performed to assess the release of Pb(II) from Pb(II)-bounded PEM using various chemical agents. It was observed that 0.01 M HNO₃ desorbed Pb(II) ions optimally, achieving a desorption efficiency exceeding 99.9%. Consequently, desorption trials provided evidence that Pb(II)-bounded PEM may release Pb(II) ions in acidic environments, facilitating the transfer of Pb(II) to the digestive tracts of aquatic organisms.