Multivariate statistics and entropy theory for irrigation water quality and entropy-weighted index development in a subtropical urban river,Bangladesh

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Currently, a well-developed combination of irrigation water quality index (IWQIs) and entropy water quality index (EWQIs) for surface water appraisal...     

Removal of Pb2+ from water using the carbon nanotube-g-poly[(sodium methacrylate)-co- 2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl acetoacetate]: experimental investigation and modeling

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A solid polymer, poly[(sodium methacrylate)-co-2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl acetoacetate], p(MAA-co-MEAA) was synthesized and then grafted onto carbon...     

Properties of Low Molecular Weight Chitosan Obtained by Catalytic Degradation Using Lanthanum(III)/Halloysite Nanotube Catalysts

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - The catalytic degradation of chitosan (CS) using halloysite nanotubes-supported lanthanum(III) (HNT-La3+) catalysts have been studied. The HNT-La3+...     

Characteristics and potential environmental impacts of sand material from sand dunes and uplifted marine terraces as potential borrow sites for beach nourishment along the Jordanian coast of the Gulf of Aqaba

The coastal zone management and development plans which include tourism development necessitate among many other management practices, the extension of the available area of the present natural but narrow, limited and widely eroded beaches by implementing some type of nourishment practices. The present work is providing information on selected sites as possible sources of suitable sand, chemical and granulometric characteristics of their sand, and the potential direct and long-term environmental effects and consequences of its use in any future nourishment practices. Seven sites located within the up-lifted terraces area along the Jordanian portion of the Gulf of Aqaba, were selected as potential sources or borrow sites for sand that may be used in any future nourishment projects. Two sites were selected at the northeastern side of Aqaba region to represent sand dunes. Sand material from these sites were analyzed for their physical characteristics (grain size) as well as their content of heavy metals, organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorous, and calcium carbonate. Standard methodological techniques were used during analysis of all constituents. The results were compared with those obtained from the analysis of sand deposits of six beaches along the Jordanian coastline of the Gulf of Aqaba. Results indicate that sand of the selected borrow sites has grain size fractions that are suitable for use in beach nourishment. Results of the measured pollution indicators indicate that their levels in the sand of the potential borrow sites are within or lower than their levels in the marine and coastal sediments of the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea. These properties, in addition to the wide occurrence and availability of such sources along the coasts of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, suggest that it will be a cheep source of sand for beach extension and restoration and their use in large amounts in beach nourishment project will not pose major hazards on the quality of seawater of the Gulf of Aqaba area     

Geo-accumulation index and contamination factors of heavy metals (Zn and Pb) in urban river sediment

The aim of the present study was to appraise the levels of heavy metal contamination (Zn and Pb) in sediment of the Langat River (Selangor, Malaysia). Samples were collected randomly from 15 sampling stations located along the Langat River. The parameters measured were pH, redox potential, salinity, electrical conductivity, loss of ignition, cation exchanges capacity (Na, Mg, Ca, K), and metal ions (Zn and Pb). The geo-accumulation index (I _geo) and contamination factor (C _f) were applied to determine and classify the magnitude of heavy metal pollution in this urban river sediment. Results revealed that the I _geo of Pb indicated unpolluted to moderately polluted sediment at most of the sampling stations, whereas Zn was considered to be within background concentration. The I _geo results were refined by the C _f values, which showed Pb with very high C _f at 12 stations. Zinc, on the other hand, had low to moderate C _f values. These findings indicated that the sediment of the Langat River is severely polluted with Pb. The Zn concentration at most sampling points was well below most sediment quality guidelines. However, 40% of the sampling points were found to have a Pb concentration higher than the consensus-based probable effect concentration of 128 mg/kg (concentrations above this value are likely to cause harmful effects). This result not only highlights the severity of Pb pollution in the sediment of the Langat River, but also the potential risk it poses to the environment.     

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.     

Privacy-preserving aggregation in life cycle assessment

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the standard technique used to make a quantitative evaluation about the ecological sustainability of a product or service. The life cycle inventory (LCI) data sets that provide input to LCA computations can express essential information about the operation of a process or production step. As a consequence, LCI data are often regarded as confidential and are typically concealed through aggregation with other data sets. Despite the importance of privacy protection in publishing LCA studies, the community lacks a formal framework for managing private data, and no techniques exist for performing aggregation of LCI data sets that preserve the privacy of input data. However, emerging computational techniques known as “secure multiparty computation” enable data contributors to jointly compute numerical results without enabling any party to determine another party’s private data. In the proposed approach, parties who agree on a shared computation model, but do not trust one another and also do not trust a common third party, can collaboratively compute a weighted average of an LCA metric without sharing their private data with any other party. First, we formulate the LCA aggregation problem as an inner product over a foreground inventory model. Then, we show how LCA aggregations can be computed as the ratio of two secure sums. The protocol is useful when preparing LCA studies involving mutually competitive firms.     

Managing post-conflict demolition wastes in Gaza Strip: a case study on May 2021 conflict

Gaza Strip is considered as one of the armed conflicts prone areas in Middle East. Several intensive conflicts occurred in Gaza Strip in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021. These conflicts caused massive destroying the infrastructures, facilities, and buildings, which affected all services and activities in Gaza Strip. One of the major post-conflict issues in Gaza strip is the management of resulted demolition waste including its removal, sorting, recycling, and material recovery. In May 2021, over than 370,000 tons of demolition waste composed of rubbles and debris was generated during 11 days of armed conflict. The accumulated previous experience of rubbles and debris removal and recycling in Gaza Strip supported to perform a quick management approach for safe removal of the post-conflict demolition waste and reuse/recycle the resulted waste materials in various applications. The sorting and transporting process of concreate and non-concreate rubble elements of the waste were carried out in cooperation between local and international agencies as emergency recovery-funded projects. The most proportion of rubbles are concrete aggregates, thus, the material recovery was conducted through crushing process for concrete rubbles and then reusing it for road rehabilitation or producing concrete building blocks. The large concrete blocks reused to be placed for shoreline protection for specific area along Gaza beach. The recycling of post-conflict demolition waste management projects in Gaza Strip brought economic and social benefits through the reuse and recycle of resources and creation of job opportunities. In conclusion, although the post-conflict demolition waste management is quite different from municipal/industrial waste management in Gaza Strip, it is conducted through applying similar techniques of disaster waste management in waste removal, and those of construction and demolition (C&D) waste management in sorting, crushing, and sieving for recycling.

     

Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Farmers’ Perceptions of Land Degradation and Stonewall Terraces in Central Palestine

Land degradation by soil erosion is a socioeconomic and environmental problem facing many developing countries. Application of stonewall terraces for soil moisture conservation is vital to reducing the environmental impacts of this phenomenon. To this end, a field plot experiment was conducted in the study area along with the use of a closed-ended questionnaire. The object of the experiment was to study the socioeconomic impacts of soil erosion on local farmers and their adoption of the stonewall terrace technique. The study showed a higher net profit in areas that had implemented terrace conservation practices than in areas that had not (i.e., 3.5 to 6 times higher net profit). Correlation analysis indicated that the farmers’ perceptions, land ownership, and geomorphology were significantly related to the farmers’ incentives and willingness to adopt terraces as soil conservation measures (P < 0.05), although the correlations were negative. Smallholder farmers (52% of the interviewed farmers) were involved in the sale of the agricultural land for urban uses, largely because of the high price and immediate returns offered. However, the associated land use changes warrant greater involvement of both the private and public sectors. This cooperation may be accomplished through the introduction of a long-term agricultural loan system and the development of proper legislation accompanied by a comprehensive and durable infrastructure and service system with the goal of reducing the negative impact of land use changes and encouraging sustainable use of resources.     

Developing the first halophytic turfgrasses for the urban landscape from native Arabian desert grass

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Climate change is occurring and is influencing biological systems through augmented temperatures, more inconstant precipitation, and rising CO2 in the...