Antigenotoxic effect of allicin against methyl methanesulphonate induced genotoxic damage

Allicin, one of the sulfur compounds especially thiosulphonates of garlic (Allium sativum), possesses antioxidant and thioldisulphide exchange activity and is also shown to cause a variety of actions potentially useful for human health. In this investigation we determined its antigenotoxic potential using chromosomal aberrations (CAs) and sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) induced by methyl methanesulphonate (MMS) as genotoxic end points both in the presence as well as absence of rat liver microsomal activation system (S9 mix) in cultured human lymphocytes. We tested the effect of 5, 10 and 20 microM of allicin on the damage exerted by 60 microM of MMS. The levels of CAs and SCEs were lowered suggesting an antigenotoxic role of allicin against genotoxic damage both in the presence as well as absence of metabolic activation.     

Toxicity evaluation of ZnO and TiO2 nanomaterials in hydroponic red bean (Vigna angularis) plant: Physiology, biochemistry and kinetic transport

The toxicity and kinetic uptake potential of zinc oxide(Zn O) and titanium dioxide(TiO_2)nanomaterials into the red bean(Vigna angularis) plant were investigated. The results obtained revealed that Zn O, due to its high dissolution and strong binding capacity, readily accumulated in the root tissues and significantly inhibited the physiological activity of the plant. However, TiO_2 had a positive effect on plant physiology, resulting in promoted growth. The results of biochemical experiments implied that Zn O, through the generation of oxidative stress, significantly reduced the chlorophyll content, carotenoids and activity of stress-controlling enzymes. On the contrary, no negative biochemical impact was observed in plants treated with TiO_2. For the kinetic uptake and transport study, we designed two exposure systems in which Zn O and TiO_2 were exposed to red bean seedlings individually or in a mixture approach. The results showed that in single metal oxide treatments, the uptake and transport increased with increasing exposure period from one week to three weeks.However, in the metal oxide co-exposure treatment, due to complexation and competition among the particles, the uptake and transport were remarkably decreased. This suggested that the kinetic transport pattern of the metal oxide mixtures varied compared to those of its individual constituents.     

Field-scale leaching of arsenic, chromium and copper from weathered treated wood

Earlier studies documented the loss of wood preservatives from new wood. The objective of this study was to evaluate losses from weathered treated wood under field conditions by collecting rainfall leachate from 5 different wood types, all with a surface area of 0.21 m². Wood samples included weathered chromate copper arsenate (CCA) treated wood at low (2.7 kg/m³), medium (4.8 kg/m³) and high (35.4 kg/m³) retention levels, new alkaline copper quat (ACQ) treated wood (1.1 kg/m³ as CuO) and new untreated wood. Arsenic was found to leach at a higher rate (100 mg in 1 year for low retention) than chromium and copper (<40 mg) in all CCA-treated wood samples. Copper leached at the highest rate from the ACQ sample (670 mg). Overall results suggest that metals' leaching is a continuous process driven by rainfall, and that the mechanism of release from the wood matrix changes as wood weathers.     

Polymeric Nanocomposite-Based Herbicide of Carboxymethyl Cellulose Coated-Zinc/Aluminium Layered Double Hydroxide-Quinclorac: A Controlled Release Purpose for Agrochemicals

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - In this work, the use of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is highlighted in enhancing the controlled release behaviour of zinc/aluminium layered double...     

Chemical speciation and bioavailability of rare earth elements (REEs) in the ecosystem: a review

Rare earths (RE), chemically uniform group of elements due to similar physicochemical behavior, are termed as lanthanides. Natural occurrence depends on the geological circumstances and has been of long interest for geologist as tools for further scientific research into the region of ores, rocks, and oceanic water. The review paper mainly focuses to provide scientific literature about rare earth elements (REEs) with potential environmental and health effects in understanding the research. This is the initial review of RE speciation and bioavailability with current initiative toward development needs and research perceptive. In this paper, we have also discussed mineralogy, extraction, geochemistry, analytical methods of rare earth elements. In this study, REEs with their transformation and vertical distribution in different environments such as fresh and seawater, sediments, soil, weathering, transport, and solubility have been reported with most recent literature along key methods of findings. Speciation and bioavailability have been discussed in detail with special emphasis on soil, plant, and aquatic ecosystems and their impacts on the environment. This review shows that REE gained more importance in last few years due to their detrimental effects on living organisms, so their speciation, bioavailability, and composition are much more important to evaluate their health risks and are discussed thoroughly as well.     

Seasonal and spatial variation of Yamuna River water quality in Delhi, India

Street dust was collected from five roads with different traffic volumes in the metropolitan area of Beijing and separated into five size fractions. Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) adsorbed on street dust in different size ranges and their correlation with specific surface area and total organic carbon (TOC) were investigated. Results show that the concentration of 16-PAHs of sieved samples ranges from 0.27 to 1.30 mg/kg for all the sampling sites. Particles smaller than 40 μm in diameter have the highest 16-PAHs concentration among all of the size ranges for street dust from the four sampling sites with vehicles running on. PAHs with three or four rings account for 68% of the overall 16-PAHs on average. Remarkable positive correlation exists between 16-PAHs concentration and specific surface area with R ² values from 0.7 to 0.96 for the four sampling sites with vehicles running on. The relationship between the concentration of 16-PAHs and TOC is less clear.     

Trihalomethane formation potential in treated water supplies in urban metro city

Trihalomethane (THM) formation potential (TFP) is very useful test to assess the level of the formation of trihalomethanes in worst case scenario. Organics in water have the potential to generate harmful disinfection by-products (DBPs) such as THMs, as a result of their reaction with disinfectant chlorine used in drinking water. DBPs are increasingly recognized as cancerous agents. TFP of postchlorinated treated water were investigated at six water treatment plants (WTPs) in Delhi City (India). The present paper presents the current trends of TFP so that prevention and control measures can be initiated by the regulating agencies responsible for drinking water supply. Liquid–liquid extraction method, followed by qualitative and quantitative estimation by gas chromatograph equipped with electron capture detector, had been used for the determination of THMs in water samples collected at the outlet just before supplying to the consumers during 2000–2007. The TFP values from 2004 onward of all WTPs did not exceed the WHO guideline value of ≤1.     

Adsorption characteristics of Cu and Ni on Irish peat moss

Peat has been widely used as a low cost adsorbent to remove a variety of materials including organic compounds and heavy metals from water. Various functional groups in lignin allow such compounds to bind on active sites of peat. The adsorption of Cu(2+) and Ni(2+) from aqueous solutions on Irish peat moss was studied both as a pure ion and from their binary mixtures under both equilibrium and dynamic conditions in the concentration range of 5-100mg/L. The pH of the solutions containing either Cu(2+) or Ni(2+) was varied over a range of 2-8. The adsorption of Cu(2+) and Ni(+2) on peat was found to be pH dependent. The adsorption data could be fitted to a two-site Langmuir adsorption isotherm and the maximum adsorption capacity of peat was determined to be 17.6 mg/g for Cu(2+) and 14.5mg/g for Ni(2+) at 298 K when the initial concentration for both Cu(2+) and Ni(2+) was 100mg/L, and the pH of the solution was 4.0 and 4.5, respectively. Column studies were conducted to generate breakthrough data for both pure component and binary mixtures of copper and nickel. Desorption experiments showed that 2mM EDTA solution could be used to remove all of the adsorbed copper and nickel from the bed.     

The effects of alginate microspheres on phytoremediation and growth of Lemna minor in the presence of Cd

Today, the removal of increased amount of contaminant concentrations in nature such as metals, nanoparticles, has become an essential issue to struggle with. In this paper, both the toxic effects of non-essential Cd on Lemna minor in presence of alginate microspheres and metal removal capacity of Cd-exposed L. minor and microspheres were investigated. Three test groups were constructed: group (L) containing Lemna, group (M) containing alginate microsphere and group (L?+?M) containing alginate microsphere and Lemna. Five different levels of Cd concentrations were added into these groups. Estimation models were constructed to estimate Cd removal capacities of L. minor and microspheres, and time-concentration-dependent growth (GRC) rates of both microsphere-containing and non-containing groups were modelled by regression analysis. It was seen that microspheres alone only had no positive or negative effects on Lemna growth. It was observed that, for all test groups the time-dependent growth rate has both increase–decrease trends in general. The toxicity effect of Cd on Lemna growth was reduced by adding microspheres into medium. Furthermore, the results stated that test groups containing only microspheres (M, 0–97.56%) and consortium groups (M?+?L, 0–98.26%) were slightly more successful in Cd removal process compared to Lemna (L) groups (L, 0–97.32%).