Low digestibility of phytate phosphorus,their impacts on the environment,and phytase opportunity in the poultry industry

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Phosphorus is an essential macro-mineral nutrient for poultry, needed for the body growth, development of bones, genomic function, good...     

Study of heavy metals in some environmental samples

Fuels like coal and rubber are frequently used for brick burning. However, both coal and rubber contain heavy metals. These heavy metals may elutriate in the wake of fly ash or may adsorb or absorb in the product. The present work deals with the analysis of heavy metals in some samples collected from brick burning industries located in the vicinity of a metropolitan city, Peshawar, Pakistan. Samples from raw clay, product, chimney scale and fossil fuel & rubber were collected and leached with acid mixture. The leachates were concentrated and analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometer for the determination of chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and antimony (Sb). It was observed that heavy metals are present in clay, brick and chimney scale. However, significant amount of these metals was observed in chimney scale. It is inferred that such emanations laden with heavy metals are accompanying the stack gases which are being dumped in to the environment. In order to avoid environmental problems, strict environmental regulations shall be enforced and a constant check on these emanations to the environment must be made to ensure clean air act.     

Polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS) uptake rates for 17 polar pesticides and degradation products: laboratory calibration

Polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) are useful for monitoring a wide range of chemicals, including polar pesticides, in water bodies. However, few calibration data are available, which limits the use of these samplers for time-weighted average concentration measurements in an aquatic medium. This work deals with the laboratory calibration of the pharmaceutical configuration of a polar organic chemical integrative sampler (pharm-POCIS) for calculating the sampling rates of 17 polar pesticides (1.15?≤?logK _ow?≤?3.71) commonly found in water. The experiment, conducted for 21 days in a continuous water flow-through exposure system, showed an integrative accumulation of all studied pesticides for 15 days. Three compounds (metalaxyl, azoxystrobine, and terbuthylazine) remained integrative for the 21-day experiment. The sampling rates measured ranged from 67.9 to 279 mL?day^?1 and increased with the hydrophobicity of the pesticides until reaching a plateau where no significant variation in sampling rate is observed when increasing the hydrophobicity.     

Pakistan’s plastic bag ban: an analysis of citizens’ support and ban effectiveness in Islamabad Capital Territory

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The excessive consumption of single-use plastic bags in recent years has fueled plastic pollution leading to considerable adverse consequences for...     

Critical effect of hydrogen peroxide concentration in photochemical oxidative degradation of C.I. Acid Red 27 (AR27)

The photochemical decolorization of C.I. Acid Red 27 (AR27), an anionic monoazo dye, was studied in the UV/H2O2 process by using a batch reactor with a UV-C lamp emitting at 254 nm (30 W). The decolorization rate follows pseudo-first order kinetic with respect to the AR27 concentration. The results indicate that the apparent reaction rate constant in the UV/H2O2 process is a function of H2O2 concentration. In this work, a mathematical relation between the apparent reaction rate constant of the AR27 removal and used H2O2 was established. The applied amount of H2O2 was performed in two forms: (i) the light fraction absorbed by H2O2 in 254 nm, (ii) the initial concentration ratio of H2O2 to AR27. The results obtained from this mathematical model are in good agreement with experimental results.     

A comprehensive systematic review of photocatalytic degradation of pesticides using nano TiO2

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study has systematically reviewed all of the research articles about the photocatalytic degradation of pesticides using titanium dioxide (TiO2)...