In vivo detection of mutagenic effects of diesel exhaust by short-term mammalian bioassays

Male Chinese hamsters were exposed to diesel exhaust and clean air for six months at the Center Hill Facility of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Cincinnati, Ohio. The animals were kept in specially constructed inhalation chambers and exposed to clean air or diesel exhaust for eight hours daily. The animals were sacrificed and slides prepared to study the mutagenic effects of diesel exhaust by four in vivo short term mammalian bioassays. Sperm morphology bioassay revealed a 2.67-fold increase in sperm abnormalities in the animals exposed to diesel exhaust as compared to those exposed to fresh air. Micronucleus bioassay revealed a 50% increase in the number of micronuclei in polychromatic erythrocytes obtained from animals exposed to diesel exhuast. However, no increase in sister chromatid exchange or chromosomal abnormalities was observed in bone marrow cells of animals treated with diesel exhaust. During these studies a decrease in mitotic index was observed in animals treated with diesel exhaust.     

Fly ash leachate induces oxidative stress in freshwater fish Channa punctata (Bloch)

Oxidative stress inducing potential of fly ash leachate (FAL) was studied in a freshwater fish, Channa punctata (Bloch). Fish were exposed to fly ash leachate for 24 h and lipid peroxidation (LPO) was studied as a marker of oxidative stress. Catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities and levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) were also estimated in the exposed fish. FAL (1 ml/l) induced LPO in all the organs and most prominent response was in the gill. It also caused induction of enzymes and glutathione. Liver showed highest level of induction of enzyme activities. The results of this study demonstrate that fly ash constituents have potential to induce oxidative stress in fish and gills are the most vulnerable organs. It is also suggested that in case of exposure to FAL, along with LPO antioxidant defense is also activated to counteract the reactive oxygen species (ROS) at least partly in the initial stages of exposure.     

Comparison of a Subjective and a Physical Approach for Identification of Priority Areas for Soil and Water Management in a Watershed – A Case Study of Nagwan Watershed in Hazaribagh District of Jharkhand, India

The present investigation was an attempt to compare the within-watershed prioritization capabilities of a physical model based SDSS with the SYI and RPI model based subjective-SDSS, conventionally devised for between-watershed prioritizations, by All India Soil Survey and Land Use Planning Division of Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. Application of these two approaches on a test watershed situated in Damodar-Barakar catchment in India, the second most seriously eroded area in the world, demonstrated that the proposed physical model based SDSS was capable of realistically and logically mimicking the sub-watershed-scaled water and soil losses thereby suggesting its immense application potential for priority area identification within the test watershed. In contrast to the proposed physical method, the subjective approaches, which assigned totally reverse priorities to about 67–93% of the test-sub-watersheds, were observed to be incapable of realistically assessing the impact of topography and varied land use and soil types in the test watershed on their sub-watershed scaled run-off and soil loss generating potential. Besides, the physical approach could be used for assessing the annual dynamics of the total water and sediment yields, under prevailing resource management systems in the test watershed with good to moderately good correlation coefficients of 0.83 and 0.65; model efficiency coefficients of 0.54 and 0.70; mean relative errors of –4.28% and –17.97% and root mean square prediction errors of 71.8 mm and 9.63 t/ha, respectively.     

Evidences showing 2,4-D ethyl ester and pencycuron-induced DNA damage in cyanobacteria and detection by PCR

The impact of 2,4-D ethyl ester and pencycuron in inducing DNA damage in three species of cyanobacteria-Anabaena fertilissima, Aulosira fertilissima, and Westiellopsis prolifica as evidenced by PCR-based assays: RAPD and 16S rRNA amplification was examined. Exposure of genomic DNA (in vitro) to pencycuron for 4 days did not produce severe damage in DNA fragments of all three cyanobacterial species whereas exposure to 2,4-D ethyl ester markedly inhibited the template activity of genomic DNA compared to untreated cultures of A. fertilissima. In A. fertilissima a single band of approximately 1000?bp was observed even after 16 days of exposure to 60?ppm pencycuron which suggests that certain segments of DNA are resistant to pencycuron DNA damaging effects. However, a significant effect was observed in the case of W. prolifica for 2,4-D ethyl ester and pencycuron where complete disappearance of fragments was not recorded even after 16 days of incubation and interestingly some new DNA bands were induced. Similar to the effects with RAPD profile, amplification of rRNA was significantly inhibited following exposure of genomic DNA to 2,4-D ethyl ester and pencycuron. Our findings clearly demonstrate that pesticide concentrations affected cyanobacterial DNA and lethality of these microbes might be due to irreversible DNA damage. Thus, it is postulated that PCR assays may be conveniently used for screening DNA damage produced by 2,4-D ethyl ester and pencycuron in all three cyanobacteria examined in this study.     

Assessment of radon concentration and heavy metal contamination in groundwater of Udhampur district,Jammu & Kashmir,India

Radon concentration was measured in water samples of 41 different locations from Udhampur district of Jammu & Kashmir, India, by using RAD7 and Smart RnDuo monitor. The variation of radon concentration in water ranged from 1.44 ± 0.31 to 63.64 ± 2.88 Bq L^?1, with a mean value of 28.73 Bq L^?1 using RAD7 and 0.64 ± 0.28 to 52.65 ± 2.50 Bq L^?1, with a mean value of 20.30 Bq L^?1 using Smart RnDuo monitor, respectively. About 17.07% of the studied water samples recorded to display elevated radon concentration above the reference range suggested by United Nation Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiations (UNSCEAR). The mean annual effective dose of these samples was determined, and 78.95% samples were found to be within the safe limits set by World Health Organisation (WHO) and European Council (EU). The study revealed good agreement between the values obtained with two methods. Heavy metals (Zn, Cd, Fe, Cu, Ni, As, Hg, Co, Pb and Cr) were determined in water samples by microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometer, and their correlation with radon content was also analysed.     

Contamination of rice crop with potentially toxic elements and associated human health risks—a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Production of rice, a major staple food crop, should be maintained both quantitatively and qualitatively to assure global food security. In recent...     

Social sustainability in supply chain decisions: Indian manufacturers

The purpose of the paper is to assess the inclusion of social sustainability in the decisions of supply chain in multinational manufacturing organisations in India. Indian organisations are resorting to sustainability-based reporting for greater transparency and for creation of brand value for their organisations. There are tremendous economic upheavals and changes across the complete value chain, and thus, responsible business practices are becoming a necessity for the long-term survival of organisations. Sustainability, as a strategy, is responsible utilisation of resources and is reported through social, economic and environmental factors in an organisation. For sustainability as a strategy, there has to be a complete organisational inclusion and employee engagement through decision making at operational levels along the value chain. The research paper is an empirical study done through a survey using a structured questionnaire to collect information to evaluate decision criteria particularly for social sustainability, from the middle and top level executives in Indian manufacturing organisations. Multinational manufacturing organisations in India are trying to be more responsible because of mandated CSR policy, and thus, sustainability through social factors is getting more prominence. A multiple linear regression analysis is used to explain the correlation and inclusion of social factors on the decision-making process in the supply chain of multinational manufacturing organisations in India. This study reveals that decision making in the supply chain of multinational manufacturing organisations in India specifically in manufacturing industry is incorporating social sustainability. The study highlights that decision making involving social sustainability needs larger frameworks for organisational preference. While the study provides evidence of social sustainability-based practices in multinational manufacturing organisations in India, it does not deal with social sustainability practices. The study also has limitation as has been limited to organisations which follow sustainability practices and make disclosures through GRI framework.     

Negative effect of litter of invasive weed Lantana camara on structure and composition of vegetation in the lower Siwalik Hills,northern India

Lantana camara, an aromatic shrub, native to tropical America, was introduced into India for ornamental hedging, but later escaped and became a serious invasive weed. This study assessed the quantitative and qualitative status of plant community richness and diversity in areas invaded by L. camara in the Siwalik Hills (Himachal Pradesh, India), and explored allelopathy as a possible mechanism of interference. We measured species diversity, richness and evenness of the vegetation in areas invaded and uninvaded by L. camara. Allelopathic effects of L. camara rhizosphere soil and litter were assessed against two native plants—Achyranthes aspera (a herb) and Albizia lebbeck (a tree). Density, biomass and indices of diversity, richness and evenness were reduced by L. camara, indicating a significant alteration in composition and structure of native communities. Seedling growth of the test species was reduced in L. camara rhizosphere- and litter-amended soil. The inhibitory effect was ameliorated by the addition of activated charcoal, indicating the presence of organic inhibitors (quantified as phenolics) in the soil. Lantana invasion greatly reduces the density and diversity of the vegetation in the invaded area, and chemical interference of its litter plays an important role in invasion.     

Autoregressive models in environmental forecasting time series: a theoretical and application review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Though globalization, industrialization, and urbanization have escalated the economic growth of nations, these activities have played foul on the...