Assessment of potential health risk of fluoride consumption through rice,pulses, and vegetables in addition to consumption of fluoride-contaminated drinking water of West Bengal,India

A study was conducted in fluoride-affected Bankura and Purulia districts of West Bengal to assess the potential health risk from fluoride exposure among children, teenagers, and adults due to consumption of rice, pulses, and vegetables in addition to drinking water and incidental ingestion of soil by children. Higher mean fluoride contents (13–63 mg/kg dry weight) were observed in radish, carrot, onion bulb, brinjal, potato tuber, cauliflower, cabbage, coriander, and pigeon pea. The combined influence of rice, pulses, and vegetables to cumulative estimated daily intake (EDI) of fluoride for the studied population was found to be 9.5–16%. Results also showed that intake of ivy gourd, broad beans, rice, turnip, fenugreek leaves, mustard, spinach, and amaranth grown in the study area is safe at least for time being. The cumulative EDI values of fluoride (0.06–0.19 mg/kg-day) among different age group of people of the study area were evaluated to be ~10⁴ times higher than those living in the control area; the values for children (0.19 and 0.52 mg/kg-day for CTE and RME scenarios, respectively) were also greater than the “Tolerable Upper Intake Level” value of fluoride. The estimated hazard index (HI) for children (3.2 and 8.7 for CTE and RME scenarios, respectively) living in the two affected districts reveals that they are at high risk of developing dental fluorosis due to the consumption of fluoride-contaminated rice, pulses, and vegetables grown in the study area in addition to the consumption of contaminated drinking water.     

Effect of copper and cadmium on carbon assimilation and uptake of metals by algae

Two species of blue green algae Spirulina platensis and Anacystis nidulans grown in artificial aqueous media were treated with Cu and Cd in concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, 1.0 and 10 ppm to study carbon assimilation and Chlorophyll (Chl) A content. The species were treated with concentrations of 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 5.0 and 10.0 ppm to study the uptake of metals with exposure time. Carbon assimilation and Chl A content showed responses proportional to the concentration in the general form y = K + n ln C, where C is the concentration of metal in ppm, while in case of uptake the relation was y = KC”; (where C is the molar concentration x 10^‐6 of the metal). The n values in case of uptake was found to be < 1 indicating a non‐Langmuir type of sorption. The concentration factors of metals decreased with metal concentration in the medium.     

Treatment of oil spill by sorption technique using fatty acid grafted sawdust

Treatment of oil spills remains a challenge to environmental scientists and technologists. Among all the existing techniques used for oil treatment, sorption is a popular technique because it is cheap, simple and effective. Among the various sorbents used, sawdust appears to be the most attractive material in terms of cost, versatility and abundance. In the present work, the efficacy of surface modification of sawdust by fatty acids (oleic acid, stearic acid and decanoic acid) and vegetable oils (castor oil or mustard oil) is demonstrated. Sorption of seawater contaminated with crude oil and also weathered oil was greatly enhanced by the surface modification. The results show that oleic acid grafted sawdust (OGSD) has the best sorption capacity for crude oil as well as weathered oil.     

Impact of informal regulation of pollution on water quality in rivers in India

In this paper an attempt is made to assess the impact of informal regulation of water pollution on water quality in Indian rivers. For this purpose, an econometric analysis of determinants of water quality in Indian rivers is carried out using water quality (water class) data for 106 monitoring points on 10 important rivers for five years, 1995-1999. To explain variations in water quality, an Ordered Probit model is estimated, in which poll percentage in parliamentary elections, a proxy for the intensity of informal regulation, is taken as one of the main explanatory variables. Rainfall, industrialization, irrigation intensity and fertilizer use are some of the other explanatory variables used in the model to control for the influence of these factors. As expected, river water quality is found to be positively related with rainfall, and negatively related with industrialization, irrigation intensity and fertilizer use. A significant positive relationship is found between poll percentage and water quality, and also between the rate of increase in literacy level in a district and the water quality in rivers flowing through the district. These results point to a significant favorable effect of informal regulation of pollution on water quality in rivers in India.     

Assessment of the Status of Urban Air pollution And Its Impact on Human Health in the City of Kolkata

Air pollution has significant effects on exacerbation of asthma, allergy and other respiratory diseases. Like many other magacities in the world the ambient air quality of Kolkata is also being deteriorated day by day. Automobile exhausts and certain industrial pollutants produce O₃ by photochemical reactions. The particulate matter, particularly less than 10 μ in size, can pass through the natural protective mechanism of human respiratory system and plays an important role in genesis and augmentation of allergic disorders. Sources of air pollution in the area and the unique problem arising out of the emission from the vehicles, industries, etc. have been described. Ambient air quality was monitored along with micrometeorological data and the results are discussed. The status of air pollution in the area has been evaluated and a questionnaire survey was conducted to estimate the allergic symptoms and exposure to assess the respiratory disorders. The data are analysed to evaluate the critical situation arising out of the emission of air pollutants and the impact on human health due to respirable diseases (RDs) to middle class sub-population (activity-wise) in the area are assessed. A strategic air quality management plan has been proposed. For the mitigation of air pollution problems in the city, the different measures to be adopted to maintain the balance between sustainable development and environmental management have been discussed.     

Comparative study of polyhydroxyalkanoates production from acidified and anaerobically treated brewery wastewater using enriched mixed microbial culture

The production of polyhydroxyalkanoates(PHA) from wastewaters using microbial mixed cultures(MMC) has been attracting increased interest because of PHA's biodegradability characteristics. Production of PHA by an MMC enriched with PHA-accumulating bacteria was compared using anaerobically treated and acidified brewery wastewaters under various feeding strategies, namely pulse and batch feed addition. To obtain an enriched MMC, a sequencing batch reactor was inoculated with activated sludge fed with acetate and subjected to aerobic dynamic feeding. The enriched MMC was able to accumulate PHA up to 72.6% of cell dry weight(CDW) with pulse addition of acetate controlled by the dissolved oxygen(DO) concentration in the reactor. In a batch accumulation experiment with acetate,the PHA content achieved(28.5% CDW) was less than that of the pulse feeding strategy with the same amount of acetate(～2000 mg C/L). Using anaerobically treated and acidified brewery wastewater fed in pulses, the maximum PHA accumulated by the enriched MMC was similar for both wastewaters(45% CDW), in spite of the higher volatile fatty acid concentration in acidified brewery wastewater. The pulse feed addition controlled by the DO concentration was difficult to implement for wastewater as compared to acetate because the difference in DO concentration between substrate availability and depletion was low. For the batch addition of acidified wastewater, a slightly lower PHA content(39%CDW) was obtained. These results show that both brewery wastewaters can be utilized for PHA production with a similar maximum PHA storage capacity.     

Narrating place,negotiating history: the politics of place in Land Between the Rivers

Conservation discourses in the last decade have witnessed a radical shift in the conceptualisation of nature. The imagery of a pristine nature has been replaced by a growing recognition of culture and place-based attachments as emerging frontiers of conservation. Yet, the complexities of place and culture call for a greater reflection on cultural approaches to natural resource management. In this paper, I argue that the cultural discourses in conservation policies are largely global in nature and conflict with a community's understanding of a local cultural tradition. The notion of the global closely relates to a global framing of an environmental problem that glosses over cultural specificities. On the other hand, local is defined here in materially specific terms that highlight the role of history in shaping environmental traditions. I examine these contradictory framings through a narrative of conservation, displacement, and cultural loss in a US rural community known as Land Between the Rivers.