Rapid release of heavy metals and anions from polyethylene laminated paper cups into hot water

Polyethylene laminated disposable paper cups are commonly used as a container for hot drinks, yet there is limited knowledge on the transfer of contaminants from the cup to the drink. Here we poured 95^?C hot water in 14 cups, to simulate the preparation of hot beverage for daily use. We studied the water composition after 15 min by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and ion chromatography. Results show the presence of metals such as vanadium, chromium, copper, cobalt and arsenic at concentration ranging from 0.04 to 1.80 µg/L. Nitrate, nitrite, chloride, bromate, fluoride and sulfate ions were also detected at concentration from 0.003 to 49.21 mg/L. All concentrations are below the WHO maximum permissible limits in drinking water. However, the levels of vanadium at 1.24 µg/L and fluoride ions at 1.03 mg/L are likely to induce a health risk by bioaccumulation after long-term water ingestion. Therefore paper cups composition should be modified to avoid the release of contaminants in hot drinks.

     

A systematic review of the utilization of waste materials as aggregate replacement in stone matrix asphalt mixes

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The daily utilization of a large amount of raw materials is causing a rapid depletion of natural resources. The growth of the human population is...     

Occurrence of toxic metals and their selective pressure for antibiotic-resistant clinically relevant bacteria and antibiotic-resistant genes in river receiving systems under tropical conditions

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The co-occurrence of heavy metals, antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) from hospital effluents spreading into...     

Isolation and characterization of a mesophilic cellulolytic endophyte Preussia africana from Juniperus oxycedrus

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The medicinal plant Juniperus oxycedrus is less recognized for the diversity of its fungal endophytes and their potential to produce extracellular...     

Forecasting carbon emissions due to electricity power generation in Bahrain

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Global warming and climate change have become one of the most embarrassing and explosive problems/challenges all over the world, especially in...     

Autoclave and pulsed ultrasound cavitation based thermal activation of persulfate for regeneration of hydrogen titanate nanotubes as recyclable dye adsorbent

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In the dye removal application, regeneration of hydrogen titanate nanotubes (HTN, H2Ti3O7) has been achieved via thermal activation of persulfate...     

Unravelling the photoprotective effects of freshwater alga Nostoc commune Vaucher ex Bornet et Flahault against ultraviolet radiations

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Several studies have suggested the direct relationship between skin complications, air pollution, and UV irradiation. UVB radiations cause various...     

Dye decomposition and air de-pollution performance of TiO2/SiO2 and N-TiO2/SiO2 photocatalysts coated on Portland cement mortar substates

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In this study, the newly synthesized TiO2 and N doped TiO2 clusters were added to silica sol to synthesize N-TiO2/SiO2 composites via the...     

Polyaniline films for efficient removal of aromatic acids from water

Adsorbents in the form of powders are commonly used to filtrate organic compounds in waters. However, this technique requires the separation of the solid phase from the solution after adsorption experiments. Here we propose the use of films as adsorbents. We synthesized polyaniline films by chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline on red ceramic brick. This film was tested to remove trimellitic, hemimellitic and pyromellitic acids as model molecules of the biodegradation of aquatic humic substances. We evaluated the effect of pH, contact time and initial concentration. Our results show that optimal adsorption conditions required 45 min of solid/liquid contact at pH 7 and an initial concentration of 20 mg/l. The maximum adsorption capacities for hemimellitic, trimellitic and pyromellitic acids are 154.83 for hemimellitic acid, 161.88 for trimellitic acid and 175.26 mg/g for pyromellitic acid. The adsorption efficiency of the polyaniline film decreased only by 13 % after four cycles. Overall, we conclude that polyaniline films are promising separable adsorbents compared to conventional adsorbents for removal of aromatic polycarboxylic acids from water.     

Comparative sensitivities of the tropical cladoceran,Ceriodaphnia rigaudii and the temperate species Daphnia magna to seven toxicants

The toxicities of seven chemicals [cadmium (Cd) chloride, potassium dichromate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, potassium chloride (KCl), Triton X-100, zinc (Zn) chloride and copper (Cu) (II) sulfate] were determined using the tropical freshwater cladoceran, Ceriodaphnia rigaudii and the temperate species, Daphnia magna. Data generated was subsequently used to determine the relative sensitivities of both species, using interspecies correlation to compare the 48?h LC50 values for both species. The 48?h LC50 values for C. rigaudii ranged from 0.002?mg?L^?1 (potassium dichromate) to 21.1?mg?L^?1 (KCl), whereas those for D. magna ranged from 0.3?mg?L^?1 for Cu to 418.87?mg?L^?1 for KCl. The LC50 values for C. rigaudii were significantly less than that for D. magna for six of the compounds tested. The interspecies correlation also showed a low, positive correlation suggesting that the sensitivities of both species were not similar for the compounds tested. The sensitivity factors for C. rigaudii and D. magna ranged between 0.01 and 12.3. These values further suggested that for six of the compounds tested, C. rigaudii appeared to be more sensitive than D. magna. It is therefore possible that because of these differences in relative sensitivities, toxicity data generated with D. magna may not be appropriate for Trinidad.