Recovery of gas waste from the petroleum industry: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Globally, 150–170 billion cubic metres of gas are being flared annually from petroleum refineries, petrochemical industries and from landfills. In this...     

Healing and edible clays: a review of basic concepts,benefits and risks

The use of clay by humans for medicinal and wellness purposes is most probably as old as mankind. Within minerals, due to its ubiquitous occurrence in nature and easy availability, clay was the first to be used and is still used worldwide. Healing clays have been traditionally used by man for therapeutic, nutritional and skin care purposes, but they could impart some important health and skin care risks. For instance, clay particles could adsorb and make available for elimination or excretion any potential toxic elements or toxins being ingested or produced, but they could adsorb and make available for incorporation, through ingestion or through dermal absorption, toxic elements, e.g. heavy metals. Edible clays, a particular case of healing clays, have been traditionally used by man for nutritional and therapeutic purposes. Geophagy, the deliberate soil eating, earth eating, clay eating and pica (medical condition or eating disorder shown by individuals addicted to eat earth substances), has been observed in all parts of the world since antiquity, reflecting cultural practice, religious belief and physiological needs, be they nutritional (dietary supplementation) or as a remedy for disease. This paper pretends to review historical data, basic concepts and functions, as well as benefits and risks of the use of healing clays, in general, for therapeutic and cosmetic purposes, and of edible clays, in particular, for therapeutic purposes.     

Sorption and transformation of biocides from hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Biocides are applied as chemical additives in hydraulic fracturing fluids to control subsurface microbial activity. When biocides are released into the subsurface,...     

Natural organic matter controls metal speciation and toxicity for marine organisms: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Heavy metals are occurring in the aquatic environment as the result of natural or anthropogenic inputs, and depending on concentration, availability and resilience...     

Discussion of “Mahmodinia,S., & Javan,M. (2021). Vortical structures,entrainment and mixing process in the lateral discharge of the gravity current. Environmental Fluid Mechanics, 21(5), 1035–1067”

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - The authors of the discussed paper presented an interesting study of the lateral gravity currents for the different flow conditions. The authors showed the...     

Health risks of gold miners: a synoptic review

Health problems of gold miners who worked underground include decreased life expectancy; increased frequency of cancer of the trachea, bronchus, lung, stomach, and liver; increased frequency of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), silicosis, and pleural diseases; increased frequency of insect-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever; noise-induced hearing loss; increased prevalence of certain bacterial and viral diseases; and diseases of the blood, skin, and musculoskeletal system. These problems are briefly documented in gold miners from Australia, North America, South America, and Africa. In general, HIV infection or excessive alcohol and tobacco consumption tended to exacerbate existing health problems. Miners who used elemental mercury to amalgamate and extract gold were heavily contaminated with mercury. Among individuals exposed occupationally, concentrations of mercury in their air, fish diet, hair, urine, blood, and other tissues significantly exceeded all criteria proposed by various national and international regulatory agencies for protection of human health. However, large-scale epidemiological evidence of severe mercury-associated health problems in this cohort was not demonstrable.     

Feedstocks,catalysts, process variables and techniques for biodiesel production by one-pot extraction-transesterification: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Biodiesel is a sustainable alternative to petroleum diesel. The main bottlenecks in the commercialization of biodiesel are production costs and suitable industrial...     

Environmental fate and ecotoxicology of propanil: a review

The herbicide propanil, a synthetic anilide, was discovered in 1957 to control grasses and broad-leaf weeds in rice fields. It has been found to disrupt the electron transport chain by inhibiting the photosystem II, thus impacting plant growth. In the environment, photolysis represents a major degradation pathway, whereas volatilization is not a major route of dissipation from either water or moist soils. Propanil is rapidly degraded by microbes into the major degradation product 3,4-dichloroaniline. This degradation product has been highly detected in both groundwater and surface waters throughout the world. Propanil has been found to adversely impact many non-target organisms. It is toxic to some early life-stage aquatic organisms, in addition to being moderately toxic to the water flea (Ceriodaphnia dubia) and rainbow trout. In addition, it has been reported to pose a high acute and long-term risk to birds. In plants, growth rates are highly impacted; however, some plant species are becoming resistant to propanil.     

The risks and benefits of signalling aggressive motivation: a study of cave-dwelling little blue penguins

Summary Cave-dwelling little blue penguins, Eudyptula minor, use a large repertoire of agonistic displays. Both qualitative and quantitative measures suggested that some displays were more dangerous to perform than others (estimated by the risk of being injured by one's opponent). A lag sequential analysis of interactions indicated a positive relationship between the risks of performing a display and the display's effectiveness (i.e., in deterring opponents). The cost or risk asymmetries that exist between displays may allow opponents to assess how motivated the actor is to secure or defend resources. Thus, high cost displays are more effective because they reveal a willingness to take risks and also place the opponent in a higher risk situation. Communicating in this way can be an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) because signalling a strong motivation entails using potentially costly behavior (i.e., there are costs associated with bluffing). Also, displays that were accompanied by calls were more effective in deterring opponents than the same displays performed silently. Calls may highlight the risks being taken by actors; this may be particularly important in nocturnal species like little blue penguins. Aggressive displays could also be used to predict what the actor was and was not likely to do following the performance of the display. Generally, aggressive displays predicted that the actor would escalate to a higher risk behavior if the opponent did not retreat, but that it would use a lower risk behavior if the opponent backed down. However, risk-based displays should be seen as revealing a certain level of motivation at the time of the display and not as a way of describing how great a risk the actor is willing to take following the display. The predictive value of displays appears to be the result of an escalation process which ensures that opponents are deterred by the lowest risk behavior possible.     

Environmental applications of two-dimensional transition metal carbides and nitrides for water purification: a review

Environmental pollution requires advanced methods and materials to clean drinking water. In particular, 2D transition metal carbides, named MXenes, display unique properties such as specific surface area, surface functional groups, conductivity, and antibacterial effects. Here, we review the applications of MXenes for water purification, and the factors controlling the efficiency of MXenes. We present the history of MXenes and focus on applications for adsorption, capacitive deionization, membranes, and catalysis.

     

Environmental factors influencing the transmission of the coronavirus 2019: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - The coronavirus 2019 pandemic, induced by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has strongly altered healthcare systems and...     

Environmental pollutants and type 2 diabetes: a review of human studies

The incidence of diabetes has increased dramatically in recent decades and become one of the leading health problems worldwide. Lifestyle and dietary changes alone cannot account for the dramatic rise of diabetes, while an increasing number of publications have reported the possible relationships between exposure to environmental pollutants and risk of diabetes. In the present review, our objective was to summarize the human studies on environmental pollutants, which includes persistent organic pollutants, pesticides (not on the Stockholm Convention list), bisphenol A, and phthalates, and the risk of diabetes. Currently published results suggest a positive relationship between certain persistent organic pollutants (dichlorodiphenyldichloroethene, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, hexachlorobenzene, and polychlorinated biphenyls) and bisphenol A exposure and risk of diabetes. For pyrethroids, organophosphates, carbamates, and phthalates, there are insufficient studies to reach conclusions and therefore more studies, especially prospective studies, are needed along with in vivo and in vitro studies to understand the underlying mechanisms.     

A review of: “Agricultural Chemicals and the Environment Issues in Environmental Science and Technology”

5, 1996 Ed. Hester, R. E. and Harrison, R. M., Royal Society of Chemistry, Isbn 0 85404 220 2, Pp Xii + 128, $ 17-50.     

In search of a unifying criterion for meandering systems: examples from natural and built environments

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - Meandering of river systems has been attributed to erosion and deposition of sediments along river banks, yet a universal cause of the instability has not been...     

Multi-metal resistance and plant growth promotion potential of a wastewater bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa and its synergistic benefits

Water and soil pollution by toxic heavy metals (HMs) is increasing globally because of increase in population, industrialization and urbanization. It is a burning problem for the public, scientists, academicians and politicians how to tackle the toxic contaminants which jeopardize the environment. One possible solution for pollution abatement is a bioremediation-effective and innovative technology that uses biological systems for treatment of contaminants. Many bacteria synthesize indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) which is a product of l-tryptophan metabolism and belongs to the auxin class of plant growth-promoting hormone. The present study aimed at assessing the resistance pattern of wastewater bacteria against multiple HMs and plant growth promotion activity associated with IAA. A Gram-negative bacterial strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa KUJM was isolated from Kalyani Sewage Treatment Plant. This strain showed the potential to tolerate multiple contaminations such as As(III) (50 mM), As(V) (800 mM), Cd (8 mM), Co (18 mM), Cu (7 mM), Cr (2.5 mM), Ni (3 mM) and Zn (14 mM). The capability of IAA production at different tryptophan concentration (1, 2, 5 and 10 mg mL⁻¹) was determined, and seed germination-enhancing potential was also estimated on lentil (Lens culinaris). Such type of HM-resistant, IAA-producing and seed germination-enhancing P. aeruginosa KUJM offer great promise as inoculants to promote plant growth in the presence of toxic HMs, as well as plant inoculant systems useful for phytoremediation of polluted soils. Hence, P. aeruginosa KUJM finds significant applications in HM-contaminated poor agricultural field as well as in bioremediation of HM-contaminated wastewater system.

     

An assessment of the potential health benefits of realizing the goals for PM<Subscript>10</Subscript> in the updated Chinese Ambient Air Quality Standard

As a response to the severe air quality problems in China, the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2012 issued an updated Ambient Air Quality Standard (GB3095-2012), which set a stricter grade II PM₁₀ standard. A successful implementation of this standard will have an impact on human health through reduction of exposure to air pollution in the population. Using the methods of adjusted human capital and value of statistical life, the authors in this article estimate the economic impact of a successful implementation of the updated Ambient Air Quality Standard on human health in China. The key results are: 1) The human health benefits from reaching the updated standard for PM₁₀ would equal CNY 51.1 billion using adjusted human capital, accounting for 18.5% of total human health costs in China, and CNY 83.5 billion using the value of a statistical life; 2) the benefit of reaching the updated standard for PM₁₀ is highest in the east coastal areas and gradually declines for more Western provinces; and 3) the marginal benefit of public health increases as the environmental quality standard PM₁₀ improves. If the annual concentration of PM₁₀ were to be reduced from the target number in the original grade II standard to that in the updated standard, the mortality rate of long-term exposure would be reduced by 6.5% due to reduced chronic exposure. In addition, if the annual concentration were to be reduced further from updated grade II to grade I standard, the mortality rate for long-term exposure would be lowered by 32.8%.     

Environmental benefits from geothermal energy use with a well doublet located in the Szczecin Trough (NW Poland)

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - The article presents environmental aspects related to the use of geothermal waters of the Lower Jurassic in the area of the Szczecin Trough. The research...     

A comparison study of the potential risks induced in arable land and forest soils by carcass-derived pollutants

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - Improper decisions concerning animal carcass disposal sites pose grave threats to environmental biosecurity. However, only a few studies have focused on the...