RETRACTED ARTICLE: Consequences of health risk assessment of wastewater irrigation in Pakistan

Statement of Retraction

We, the Editors and Publisher of Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry, have retracted the following article:

Maria Sabeen, Qaisar Mahmood, Abdol Ghaffar Ebadi, Zulfiqar Ahmad Bhatti, Faridullah, Muhammad Irshad, Allauddin Kakar, Muhammad Bilal, Hafiz Muhammad Arshad and Naeem Shahid, ‘Consequences of health risk assessment of wastewater irrigation in Pakistan Israel Affairs’, Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry, 2019, DOI: 10.1080/02772248.2019.1619335

The article is retracted due to the oversights that were made during peer review process that resulted in the article being published online in error. Further review from independent reviewers was sought. This confirmed that the central findings and methodology of the study in question are unreliable and therefore unsuitable for publication.

We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions.

The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”.     

Synthesis of linear low-density polyethylene-g-poly(acrylic acid)-co-starch/organo-montmorillonite hydrogel composite as an adsorbent for removal of Pb(Ⅱ) from aqueous solutions

The purpose of this work is to remove Pb(II) from the aqueous solution using a type of hydrogel composite. A hydrogel composite consisting of waste linear low density polyethylene, acrylic acid, starch, and organo-montmorillonite was prepared through emulsion polymerization method. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), Solid carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy(CNMR)), silicon-29 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy(Si NMR)), and X-ray diffraction spectroscope((XRD) were applied to characterize the hydrogel composite. The hydrogel composite was then employed as an adsorbent for the removal of Pb(II) from the aqueous solution. The Pb(II)-loaded hydrogel composite was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR)),scanning electron microscopy(SEM)), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy((XPS)). From XPS results, it was found that the carboxyl and hydroxyl groups of the hydrogel composite participated in the removal of Pb(II). Kinetic studies indicated that the adsorption of Pb(II)followed the pseudo-second-order equation. It was also found that the Langmuir model described the adsorption isotherm better than the Freundlich isotherm. The maximum removal capacity of the hydrogel composite for Pb(II) ions was 430 mg/g. Thus, the waste linear low-density polyethylene-g-poly(acrylic acid)-co-starch/organo-montmorillonite hydrogel composite could be a promising Pb(II) adsorbent.     

4-(4-(Methylsulfonyl)phenyl)-3-phenoxy-1-phenylazetidin-2-one: a novel COX-2 inhibitor acting selectively and directly on cancerous B-lymphocyte mitochondria

A new series of 3-phenoxyazetidin-2-ones (β-lactams) were designed and synthesized for the evaluation as selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors. In this study, the effects of a synthetic of β-lactam-structured COX-2 inhibitor with 4-(4-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl)-3-phenoxy-1-phenylazetidin-2-one on cell viability of cancerous lymphoblast isolated from patients diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and normal lymphocytes collected from healthy donors were investigated. The viability % of cancer lymphoblast and normal lymphocyte treated 4-(4-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl)-3-phenoxy-1-phenylazetidin-2-one were tested with MTT assay. Apoptosis and necrosis were measured by double stains of annexin V and propidium iodide, and caspase-3 as a final mediator in apoptotic death measured by colorimetric assay. Mitochondria were isolated from both cancerous lymphoblast and normal lymphocytes to measure parameters of mitochondrial damage such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, mitochondrial membrane potential decrease, swelling, and cytochrome c release following the administration of azithidine-2-one derivative, 4-(4-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl)-3-phenoxy-1-phenylazetidin-2-one. Our results showed that 4-(4-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl)-3-phenoxy-1-phenylazetidin-2-one inhibited proliferation of cancerous lymphoblast in a concentration-dependent manner by inducing apoptosis but not in normal lymphocytes. Treatment with azithidine-2-one derivative produced a rapid loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, stimulation of release of ROS and mitochondrial cytochrome c into cytosol, and subsequent induction of procaspase-9 processing. Data suggest that 4-(4-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl)-3-phenoxy-1-phenylazetidin-2-one-induced ROS production led to mitochondria-mediated death signaling that resulted in apoptosis in cancerous lymphoblast cells. The induction of apoptosis by azithidine-2-one compounds, such as 4-(4-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl)-3-phenoxy-1-phenylazetidin-2-one, may provide a mechanism for its cancer chemopreventive action in acute lymphocytic leukemia cells.