Fluorosis - a case study from the Sambher Salt Lake region in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Assistant Professor in Human Ecology, in the Indira Gandhi Centre for Human Ecology, Environment and Population Studies at the University of Rajasthan. Although fluorine is an essential element for human growth and development, its intake in excessive amounts beyond the permissible limits can be very harmful. Dental and skeletal fluorosis are some of the common afflictions of fluorine poisoning and it can even have crippling effects in aged individuals. With the rise in industrialization fluoride contamination is increasing in the human environment as it is a basic component of the ground water. Certain regions of India, particularly the arid zones of Rajasthan, have serious fluoride problems and it has become a serious health hazard in several villages of Rajasthan.     

The use of enhanced bioremediation at the Savannah River Site to remediate pesticides and PCBs

Enhanced bioremediation is quickly developing into an economical and viable technology for the remediation of contaminated soils. Until recently, chlorinated organic compounds have proven difficult to bioremediate. Environmentally recalcitrant compounds, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and persistent organic pesticides (POPs) such as dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (DDT) have shown to be especially arduous to bioremediate. Recent advances in field‐scale bioremedial applications have indicated that biodegradation of these compounds may be possible. Engineers and scientists at the Savannah River Site (SRS), a major DOE installation near Aiken, South Carolina, are using enhanced bioremediation to remediate soils contaminated with pesticides (DDT and its metabolites, heptachlor epoxide, dieldrin, and endrin) and PCBs. This article reviews the ongoing remediation occurring at the Chemicals, Metals, and Pesticides (CMP) Pits using windrow turners to facilitate microbial degradation of certain pesticides and PCBs. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Impact assessment of pesticide residues in fish of Ganga river around Kolkata in West Bengal

An investigation was conducted from 2001 to 2005 for determining the residual concentration of five pesticides, viz., total-HCH, total-DDT, total-Endosulfan, Dimethoate and Malathion in fish samples collected from various points of the river Ganga. Fish samples were analyzed for pesticide residues using standard laboratory procedures by GC method. It was found that total-HCH concentration remains above the MRL values for maximum number of times in comparison to four other pesticides. The pesticide contamination to fish may be due to indiscriminate discharge of polluted and untreated sewage-sludge to the river. The pesticide contents in some places are alarming. Thus proper care, maintenance, treatment and disposal of sewage water and sludge are most vital and should be the prime thrust for the nation.     

Protection from metal toxicity by Hsp40-like protein isolated from contaminated soil using functional metagenomic approach

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Pollution in the environment due to accumulation of potentially toxic metals results in deterioration of soil and water quality, thus impacting health...     

Assessment of inherent vulnerability of forests at landscape level: a case study from Western Ghats in India

Assessment of vulnerability is an important step in building long-term resilience in the forestry sector. The objective of this paper is to present a methodological approach to assess inherent vulnerability of forests at landscape level. The approach involves use of vulnerability indicators, the pairwise comparison method, and geographic information system (GIS) tools. We apply this approach to assess the inherent vulnerability of forests of the Western Ghats Karnataka (WGK) landscape, which is a part of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in India. Four vulnerability indicators, namely biological richness, disturbance index, canopy cover, and slope, are selected. We find that forests in 30, 36, 19, and 15 % grid points in this region show low, medium, high, and very high inherent vulnerability, respectively. The forest showing high and very high inherent vulnerability are mostly dry deciduous forests and plantations located largely on the eastern side of the landscape. We also find that canopy cover is one of the key indicators that determine the inherent vulnerability of forests, and natural forests are inherently less vulnerable than man-made plantations. Spatial assessment of inherent vulnerability of forests at landscape level is particularly useful for developing strategies to build resilience to current stressors and climate change in future.     

Robustness of Meteorological Droughts in Dynamically Downscaled Climate Simulations

We examine the robustness of a suite of regional climate models (RCMs) in simulating meteorological droughts and associated metrics in present‐day climate (1971‐2003) over the conterminous United States (U.S.). The RCMs that are part of North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) simulations are compared with multiple observations over the climatologically homogeneous regions of the U.S. The seasonal precipitation, climatology, drought attributes, and trends have been assessed. The reanalysis‐based multi‐model median RCM reasonably simulates observed statistical attributes of drought and the regional detail due to topographic forcing. However, models fail to simulate significant drying trend over the Southwest and West. Further, reanalysis‐based NARCCAP runs underestimate the observed drought frequency overall, with the exception of the Southwest; whereas they underestimate persistence in the drought‐affected areas over the Southwest and West‐North Central regions. However, global climate model‐driven NARCCAP ensembles tend to overestimate regional drought frequencies. Models exhibit considerable uncertainties while reproducing meteorological drought statistics, as evidenced by a general lack of agreement in the Hurst exponent, which in turn controls drought persistence. Water resources managers need to be aware of the limitations of current climate models, while regional climate modelers may want to fine‐tune their parameters to address impact‐relevant metrics.     

Vermiculture and waste management: study of action of earthworms Elsinia foetida, Eudrilus euginae and Perionyx excavatus on biodegradation of some community wastes in India and Australia

The practice of vermiculture is at least a century old but it is now being revived worldwide with diverse ecological objectives such as waste management, soil detoxification and regeneration and sustainable agriculture. Earthworms act in the soil as aerators, grinders, crushers, chemical degraders and biological stimulators. They secrete enzymes, proteases, lipases, amylases, cellulases and chitinases which bring about rapid biochemical conversion of the cellulosic and the proteinaceous materials in the variety of organic wastes which originate from homes, gardens, dairies and farms. The process is odour free because earthworms release coelomic fluids in the decaying waste biomass which has anti-bacterial properties which kills pathogens. The species used in India were Indian blue (Perionyx excavatus), African night crawler (Eudrilus euginae) and the Tiger worm (Elsinia foetida). E. foetida was used in Australia. E. euginae was found to have higher feeding, growth and biodegradation capacity compared to other two species.Earthworm action was shown to enhance natural biodegradation and decomposition of wastes (60–80 percent under optimum conditions), thus significantly reducing the composting time by several weeks. Within 5 to 6 weeks, 95–100 percent degradation of all cellulosic materials was achieved. Even hard fruit and egg shells and bones can be degraded, although these may take longer.