Lead accumulation in edible portions of crops grown near Egyptian traffic roads

Accumulation of lead in different parts of vegetables growing around six Egyptian traffic roads was investigated. Results of this work showed that leafy vegetables such as lettuce and cabbages accumulated lead up to 78.4 p.p.m. in their edible portions while the least lead accumulators were carrots and radish. The highest concentration of lead found in carrots sampled from locations adjacent to the busiest traffic road was 10.2 p.p.m. with an average concentration of 3.8 p.p.m. Lead concentrations in fruits of pepper and tomato were in the range of 0.7–18.6 p.p.m. depending on several factors such as traffic densities and distances from the road. The average ratio between lead in soil to lead in fruit of tomatoes at the first 10 m from roads was about 15 compared with a ratio of 50 at distances more than 100 m. These findings suggest that lead was accumulated in plants through both foliage and root systems, but lead absorption through foliage is more pronounced at locations close to the emission source of lead vapour and fine particles. The concentration of lead in fruit was dependent on its concentration in the leaf rather than in the roots or soil.     

The Influence of Agroforestry and Other Land-Use Types on the Persistence of a Sumatran Tiger (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Panthera tigris sumatrae</Emphasis>) Population: An Individual-Based Model Approach

The importance of preserving both protected areas and their surrounding landscapes as one of the major conservation strategies for tigers has received attention over recent decades. However, the mechanism of how land-use surrounding protected areas affects the dynamics of tiger populations is poorly understood. We developed Panthera Population Persistence (PPP)—an individual-based model—to investigate the potential mechanism of the Sumatran tiger population dynamics in a protected area and under different land-use scenarios surrounding the reserve. We tested three main landscape compositions (single, combined and real land-uses of Tesso-Nilo National Park and its surrounding area) on the probability of and time to extinction of the Sumatran tiger over 20 years in Central Sumatra. The model successfully explains the mechanisms behind the population response of tigers under different habitat landscape compositions. Feeding and mating behaviours of tigers are key factors, which determined population persistence in a heterogeneous landscape. All single land-use scenarios resulted in tiger extinction but had a different probability of extinction within 20 years. If tropical forest was combined with other land-use types, the probability of extinction was smaller. The presence of agroforesty and logging concessions adjacent to protected areas encouraged the survival of tiger populations. However, with the real land-use scenario of Tesso-Nilo National Park, tigers could not survive for more than 10 years. Promoting the practice of agroforestry systems surrounding the park is probably the most reasonable way to steer land-use surrounding the Tesso-Nilo National Park to support tiger conservation.     

Improving the decolorization of glycerol by adsorption using activated carbon derived from oil palm biomass

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study provides insight into the decolorization strategy for crude glycerol obtained from biodiesel production using waste cooking oil as raw...     

Microbial and enzymatic degradation of PCBs from e-waste-contaminated sites: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Electronic waste is termed as e-waste and on recycling it produces environmental pollution. Among these e-waste pollutants, polychlorinated biphenyls...     

The utility of electrocardiography and echocardiography in copper deficiency-induced cardiac damage in goats

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Copper deficiency (CuD) is a common mineral disorder in ruminants, which causes histomorphological changes in the heart due to disturbances in...     

Exploring natural colorant behavior of husk of durum (Triticum durum Desf.) and bread (Triticum aestivum L.) wheat species for sustainable cotton fabric dyeing

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Revival of natural colorants in textile dyeing is one of the important strategies to reduce synthetic chemical-based environmental pollution. The...     

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in contaminated coastal marine waters of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea: a baseline study

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are today considered important constituents of the continuously growing substance group of persistent...     

The performance of mycorrhizae,rhizobacteria, and earthworms to improve Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) growth and Pb uptake in a Pb-contaminated soil

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The current study was conducted to determine the combined performance of soil micro- and macro-organisms to stimulate the growth and lead (Pb) uptake...     

COVID-19 pandemic: the possible influence of the long-term ignorance about climate change

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In addressing the current COVID-19 pandemic and evaluating the measures taken by global leaders so far, it is crucial to trace back the circumstances...     

Non-linear relationship between tourism,economic growth,urbanization, and environmental degradation: evidence from smooth transition models

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The study aims to analyze two objectives: first is to explore the non-linear relationship between tourism development, economic growth, urbanization,...