Effects of water shortage in Kabul River network on the plain areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,Pakistan

Kabul River is a shared resource of Pakistan and Afghanistan and is a major source of economy for both countries. It is used for irrigation, power generation, fishery, hunting, and recreation. This study explored human-induced impact on Kabul River and its associated wetlands. For an in-depth study, the area situated between the two tributaries of Kabul River, i.e., Shalam and Naguman Rivers, was selected. The focus of the study was to find out reduction in the wetland areas, its causes, and associated impacts. For this purpose, a survey was conducted in 10 villages selected randomly in 10 union councils. The study revealed that anthropogenic activities, such as wetland farming, grazing residential encroachment, and industrial development, have caused severe alteration in the wetland of the study areas. The results revealed that before the 1990s, 33.55% area of the study area was wetland. Due to regular decrease in the flow of the Kabul River System and human encroachment, it has engulfed 68.40% of the total wetland leaving behind only 10.60% wetland. This can be termed as a big ecological disturbance. In the long run, this will have negative effects on both the countries. It is therefore recommended to give proper attention to this important wetland, positioning between Shalam and Naguman Rivers and to conserve it. One of the solutions is to regulate the natural flow of Kabul River.     

Industrial effluent quality, pollution monitoring and environmental management

Royal Commission Environmental Control Department (RC-ECD) at Yanbu industrial city in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has established a well-defined monitoring program to control the pollution from industrial effluents. The quality of effluent from each facility is monitored round the clock. Different strategic measures have been taken by the RC-ECD to implement the zero discharge policy of RC. Industries are required to pre-treat the effluent to conform pretreatment standards before discharging to central biological treatment plant. Industries are not allowed to discharge any treated or untreated effluent in open channels. After treatment, reclaimed water must have to comply with direct discharge standards before discharge to the sea. Data of industrial wastewater collected from five major industries and central industrial wastewater treatment plant (IWTP) is summarized in this report. During 5-year period, 3,705 samples were collected and analyzed for 43,436 parameters. There were 1,377 violations from pretreatment standards from all the industries. Overall violation percentage was 3.17%. Maximum violations were recorded from one of the petrochemical plants. The results show no significant pollution due to heavy metals. Almost all heavy metals were within RC pretreatment standards. High COD and TOC indicates that major pollution was due to hydrocarbons. Typical compounds identified by GC-MS were branched alkanes, branched alkenes, aliphatic ketones, substituted thiophenes, substituted phenols, aromatics and aromatic alcohols. Quality of treated water was also in compliance with RC direct discharge standards. In order to achieve the zero discharge goal, further studies and measures are in progress.     

Determination of selected heavy metals in air samples from the northern part of Jordan

In this work, the atmospheric concentrations of selected heavy metals including lead (Pb), iron (Fe), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn) were measured for two different sampling sites (urban and rural) in the northern part of Jordan (Irbid city). Samples were collected according to a certain schedule for 1 year. High volume air samplers and glass fiber filters were used to collect the samples. Collected samples were digested using a mixture of analytical grade nitric acid and analytical grade hydrochloric acid, and analyzed to evaluate the levels of heavy metals by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Six heavy metals (Pb, Fe, Cu, Ni, Mn, and Zn) were measured in all samples; the concentrations of Cd and Co were not detected in Irbid atmosphere by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The results were used to determine the levels of heavy metal pollutants in air, possible sources, and to compare the levels of selected heavy metals in the two studied sites. Aerosols from the rural site have lower concentrations for all the metals compared to those from the urban site. The daily and monthly variations of the elements were investigated. All heavy metals in urban and rural sites reached maximum concentrations in June, July, and August. This is consistent with the increased activities leading to particulate matter emission during the summer period. The enrichment factors with respect to earth crust and correlation coefficients of heavy metals were investigated to predict the possible sources of heavy metals in air.     

Indoor air pollution evaluation with emphasize on HDI and biological assessment of HDA in the polyurethane factories

Today, many raw materials used in factories may have a dangerous effect on the physiological system of workers. One of them which is widely used in the polyurethane factories is diisocyanates. These compounds are widely used in surface coatings, polyurethane foams, adhesives, resins, elastomers, binders, and sealants. Exposure to diisocyanates causes irritation to the skin, mucous membranes, eyes, and respiratory tract. Hexamethylene diamine (HDA) is metabolite of hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI). It is an excretory material by worker’s urine who is exposed to HDI. Around 100 air samples were collected from five defined factories by midget impinger which contained dimethyl sulfoxide absorbent as a solvent and tryptamine as reagent. Samples were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography with EC\UV detector using NIOSH 5522 method of sampling. Also, 50 urine samples collected from workers were also analyzed using William’s biological analysis method. The concentration of HDI into all air samples were more than 88 xxxμg/m³, and they have shown high concentration of pollutant in the workplaces in comparison with NIOSH standard, and all of the workers’ urine were contaminated by HDA. The correlation and regression test were used to obtain statistical model for HDI and HDA, which is useful for the prediction of diisocyanates pollution situation in the polyurethane factories.     

Monitoring results for organochlorine pesticides in soil and water from selected obsolete pesticide stores in Pakistan

Seasonal changes in micromineral and macromineral concentrations in tissues of shrimp (Parapenaus longirostris) from Marmara Sea were measured for a 1-year period by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The contents of investigated minerals in shrimp were found to be in the range of 0.374–0.716 mg/kg for Hg, 0.526–1.286 mg/kg for Se, 0.007–0.098 mg/kg for Cd, 0.197–0.230 mg/kg for Pb, 5.194–7.600 mg/kg for Cu, 11.090–17.707 mg/kg for Zn, 22.128–38.850 mg/kg for Al, 61.769–88.437 mg/kg for Fe, 0.262–0.368 mg/kg for As, 0.081–0.249 mg/kg for Co, 0.850–1.459 mg/kg for Mn, 0.316–0.507 mg/kg for Ni, 0.032–0.107 mg/kg for Sn, 1.262–1.502 mg/kg for Cr, 2,813.770–3,317.819 mg/kg for Na, 3,702.230–4,479.648 mg/kg for K, 495.782–650.280 mg/kg for Mg, 790.407–1,016.112 mg/kg for Ca, 2,685.873–3,657.658 mg/kg for P, and 0.454–0.942 mg/kg for I. The levels of Hg found in autumn were higher than maximum levels proposed by the European legislation.     

Highlighting the implications of selenium dispersion from disposal of Kahota Industrial Triangle area, Islamabad, Pakistan using three-dimension solute transport model

This study highlights the implications of selenium (Se) dispersion in groundwater flow regimes of Kahota Industrial Triangle area located adjacent to the Soan River, Islamabad. Initially, a regional groundwater 3-D flow model has been developed, calibrated to the known observed heads of 24 water wells, verified, and confirmed that convergence has actually arrived to satisfy the steady state condition. Later, the transient simulation was carried out adding in the known recharge, storage factor, porosity, and observed drawdown matched with the simulated drawdown that appears to fall in close agreement with a difference of 0.25 m. As such the steady state groundwater model has facilitated to understand the mechanism of groundwater flow regimes in reference to the implications of selenium dispersion from disposal of Kahota Industrial Triangle area. Thirty-five water samples were collected mainly from the industrial water wells for the evaluation of heavy metals. Selenium being the major contributor of pollution has been short listed to monitor its dispersion using a solute transport model modular three-dimensional transport model (MT3D). Chemical parameters related to selenium characteristics including horizontal and vertical transverse dispersivity/longitudinal dispersivity, effective molecular diffusion coefficient and bulk density of the porous medium of aquifers have been used in MT3D contaminant transport model. MT3D is run for 30 years in steady state condition. As usual first run did not produce the exact field conditions. Therefore, the contaminant transport model is calibrated against the 32 values of observed selenium concentrations in boreholes by minor adjustments in the chemical parameter values. The final calibration has been achieved with residual value of 3.88 × 10^???5 Kg/m³. Seven hypothetical observation wells are used to monitor the selenium concentrations over a long-term period of time.     

Implications of depletion of groundwater levels in three layered aquifers and its management to optimize the supply demand in the urban settlement near Kahota Industrial Triangle area, Islamabad, Pakistan

This study deals with the implications of depletion of groundwater levels in three layered aquifers and its management to optimize the supply demand in the urban settlement near Kahota Industrial Triangle area, located adjacent to the Soan River, Islamabad Pakistan. Initially, a groundwater 3-D steady-state flow model has been developed, calibrated to the known observed heads of 24 water wells, verified, and confirmed that convergence has actually arrived and hydraulic heads are no more changing. Later, the transient simulation was carried out with the constant discharge rates of groundwater by means of pumping wells, storage factor, porosity, and observed drawdown matched with the simulated drawdown that appears to fall in close agreement with a difference of 0.25 m. As such, the developed groundwater model has facilitated to understand, evaluate, and to predict regional trends of groundwater flow regimes and their ultimate utilization at a maximum rate of 4.5 million gallons/day for the growing urban settlement. The calibrated and verified model was then used to simulate the depletion of groundwater level, annual water balance, discharge versus time drawdown, and a temporal behavior of the system over an extended period of pumping. The modeling results indicate that, due to the pumping, the direction of flow has changed: first from groundwater regimes to the Soan River and then it is entirely reversed from the Soan River to the groundwater regimes as the drawdown started to deepen.     

An assessment of selected trace elements in intertidal surface sediments collected from the Peninsular Malaysia

Concentrations of 11 trace elements (V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Ag, Cd, Pb, and U) were determined in the intertidal surface sediments of Peninsular Malaysia. The average trace element concentrations are ranked as follows: Zn>V>As>Cr>Pb>Cu>Ni>Co>U>g>Cd. Interim Sediment Quality Guidelines (ISQGs) employed in present study are the Australia and New Zealand joint guideline (ANZECC/ARMCANZ), and the Hong Kong authorities. From the pooled data, none of these trace elements have the average concentration above the ISQG-high values. However, As and Ag average concentrations were over the ISQG-low values. Some elements were found to have the average concentration above the ISQG-high and/or ISQG-low in certain locations, including Kampung Pasir Putih (JPP), Lumut Port (ALP), Kuala Perai (PKP), Port Dickson (NPD), and others. The lowest and highest concentrations in a specific sampling location and maritime area varied among the elements, variations that were greatly affected by natural and anthropogenic activities in a given area. For each trace element, there were various levels of concentration among the sampling locations and maritime areas. These patterns indicated pollutant sources of an element for each area perhaps derived from nearby areas and did not widely distributed to other locations. It is necessary for Malaysia to develop an ISQG for effective quick screening and evaluation of the coastal environment of Peninsular Malaysia.     

Genotypic Variation in the Phytoremediation Potential of Indian Mustard for Chromium

The term “phytoremediation” is used to describe the cleanup of heavy metals from contaminated sites by plants. This study demonstrates phytoremediation potential of Indian mustard (Brasicca juncea (L.) Czern. & Coss.) genotypes for chromium (Cr). Seedlings of 10 genotypes were grown hydroponically in artificially contaminated water over a range of environmentally relevant concentrations of Cr (VI), and the responses of genotypes in the presence of Cr, with reference to Cr accumulation, its phytotoxity and anti-oxidative system were investigated. The Cr accumulation potential varied largely among Indian mustard genotypes. At 100 μM Cr treatment, Pusa Jai Kisan accumulated the maximum amount of Cr (1680 μg Cr g⁻¹ DW) whereas Vardhan accumulated the minimum (107 μg Cr g⁻¹ DW). As the tolerance of metals is a key plant characteristic required for phytoremediation purpose, effects of various levels of Cr on biomass were evaluated as the gross effect. The extent of oxidative stress caused by Cr stress was measured as rate of lipid peroxidation. The level of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) was enhanced at all Cr treatments when compared to the control. Inductions of enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants were monitored as metal-detoxifying responses. All the genotypes responded to Cr-induced oxidative stress by modulating nonenzymatic antioxidants [glutathione (GSH) and ascorbate (Asc)] and enzymatic antioxidants [superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and glutathione reductase (GR)]. The level of induction, however, differed among the genotypes, being at its maximum in Pusa Jai Kisan and its minimum in Vardhan. Pusa Jai Kisan was grown under natural field conditions with various Cr treatments, and Cr-accumulation capacity was studied. The results confirmed that Pusa Jai Kisan is a hyperaccumulator of Cr and hypertolerant to Cr-induced stress, which makes this genotype a viable candidate for use in the development of phytoremediation technology of Cr-contaminated sites.     

Effect of data pre-treatment procedures on principal component analysis: a case study for mangrove surface sediment datasets

Principal component analysis (PCA) is capable of handling large sets of data. However, lack of consistent method in data pre-treatment and its importance are the limitations in PCA applications. This study examined pre-treatments methods (log (x?+?1) transformation, outlier removal, and granulometric and geochemical normalization) on dataset of Mengkabong Lagoon, Sabah, mangrove surface sediment at high and low tides. The study revealed that geochemical normalization using Al with outliers removal resulted in a better classification of the mangrove surface sediment than that outliers removal, granulometric normalization using clay and log (x?+?1) transformation. PCA output using geochemical normalization with outliers removal demonstrated associations between environmental variables and tides of mangrove surface sediment, Mengkabong Lagoon, Sabah. The PCA outputs at high and low tides also provided to better interpret information about the sediment and its controlling factors in the intertidal zone. The study showed data pre-treatment method to be a useful procedure to standardize the datasets and reducing the influence of outliers.