Urinary fluoride as a monitoring tool for assessing successful intervention in the provision of safe drinking water supply in five fluoride-affected villages in Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh, India

Endemic fluorosis was detected in 31 villages in the Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh, Central India. Out of the 109 drinking water sources that were analyzed, about 67 % were found to contain high concentration of fluoride above the permissible level of 1.0 mg/l. Dental fluorosis among the primary school children in the age between 8 and 15 served as primary indicator for fluoride intoxication among the children. Urinary fluoride levels among the adults were found to be correlated with drinking water fluoride in 10 villages affected by fluoride. Intervention in the form of alternate safe water supply in five villages showed significant reduction in the urinary fluoride concentration when compared to the control village. Urinary fluoride serves as an excellent marker for assessing the effectiveness of intervention program in the fluoride-affected villages.     

Influence of microbial and synthetic surfactant on the biodegradation of atrazine

The present study reports the effect of surfactants (rhamnolipids and triton X-100) on biodegradation of atrazine herbicide by strain A6, belonging to the genus Acinetobacter. The strain A6 was able to degrade nearly 80 % of the 250-ppm atrazine after 6 days of growth. The bacterium degraded atrazine by de-alkylation process. Bacterial cell surface hydrophobicity as well as atrazine solubility increased in the presence of surfactant. However, addition of surfactant to the mineral salt media reduced the rate and extent of atrazine degradation by decreasing the bioavailability of herbicide. On the contrary, addition of surfactant to atrazine-contaminated soil increased the rate and extent of biodegradation by increasing the bioavailability of herbicide. As compared to triton X-100, rhamnolipids were more efficient in enhancing microbial degradation of atrazine as a significant amount of atrazine was removed from the soil by rhamnolipids. Surfactants added for the purpose of hastening microbial degradation may have an unintended inhibitory effect on herbicide degradation depending upon contiguous condition, thus highlighting the fact that surfactant must be judiciously used in bioremediation of herbicides.     

Air flow and concentration fields at urban road intersections for improved understanding of personal exposure

This paper reviews the state of knowledge on modelling air flow and concentration fields at road intersections. The first part covers the available literature from the past two decades on experimental (both field and wind tunnel) and modelling activities in order to provide insight into the physical basis of flow behaviour at a typical cross-street intersection. This is followed by a review of associated investigations of the impact of traffic-generated localised turbulence on the concentration fields due to emissions from vehicles. There is a discussion on the role of adequate characterisation of vehicle-induced turbulence in making predictions using hybrid models, combining the merits of conventional approaches with information obtained from more detailed modelling. This concludes that, despite advancements in computational techniques, there are crucial knowledge gaps affecting the parameterisations used in current models for individual exposure. This is specifically relevant to the growing impetus on walking and cycling activities on urban roads in the context of current drives for sustainable transport and healthy living. Due to inherently longer travel times involved during such trips, compared to automotive transport, pedestrians and cyclists are subjected to higher levels of exposure to emissions. Current modelling tools seem to under-predict this exposure because of limitations in their design and in the empirical parameters employed.     

Influence of real and synthetic municipal solid waste leachates on consolidation and shear strength behaviour of bentonites

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - For safe disposal of wastes in landfills, compacted bentonite is recommended as bottom liners due to their significant cation exchange (CEC) and...     

Enforcement Authority and Vegetation Change at Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary,Rajasthan, India

Land cover change in protected areas is often associated with human use, especially illicit extraction, but the direction and spatial distribution of such effects and their drivers are poorly understood. We analyze and explain the spatial distribution of vegetation change at the Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary in the Aravalli range of Rajasthan, India using remotely sensed data and observation of conservation institutions. Two satellite images are examined in time series over the 13 years following the founding of the sanctuary through a cross-tabulation technique of dominant classes of vegetation density. The resulting change trajectories are compared for their relative distance to high-traffic forest entrance points for local users. The results show 28% of the study area undergoing change, though in multiple trajectories, with both increasing and decreasing density of vegetation in discrete patches. Areas of change are shown to be closer to entrance points than areas experiencing no change. The patchiness of change results from complex issues in local enforcement authority for middle and lower-level officials in Forest Department bureaucracy, leading to further questions about the efficacy and impact of use restrictions in Protected Areas.     

Effect of fluid concentration in titanium machining with an atomization-based cutting fluid (ACF) spray system

The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of metal-working fluid (MWF) concentration on the machining responses including tool life and wear, cutting force, friction coefficient, chip morphology, and surface roughness during the machining of titanium with the use of the ACF spray system. Five different concentrations from 5 to 15% of a water-soluble metalworking fluid (MWF) were applied during turning of a titanium alloy, Ti–6Al–4V. The thermo-physical properties such as viscosity, surface tension and thermal conductivity of these concentrations were also measured. The test results demonstrate that the tool life first extends with the increase in MWF concentration and then drops with further increase. At low concentration (e.g., 5%), a lack of the lubrication effect causes to increase in a higher friction at the tool–chip interface resulting in severe chipping and tool nose/flank wear within a short machining time. On the other hand, at high concentration, the cooling effect is less. This increases cutting temperature and a faster thermal softening/chipping/notching of the tool material and higher friction at the tool–chip–workpiece interaction zones resulting in early tool failure. A good balance between the cooling and the lubrication effects seems to be found at the 10% MWF concentration as it offers the best machining performance. However, machining with flood coolant is observed to perform the best in the range of 5–7%.     

Butyltins in water, biofilm, animals and sediments of the west coast of India

Biofilm, fish, oyster, mussel, clam, surface seawater, suspended particulate matter (SPM), and sediment samples were collected from marine and/or estuarine waters of the west coast of India. These samples were analysed for butyltin derivatives such as dibutyltin (DBT) and tributyltin (TBT). The concentrations DBT plus TBT varied between 2.4 and 8.3, 163 and 363 ng/l, 5 and 2853 ng/g dry wt in the SPM, seawater and sediment samples, respectively, of the Marmugao harbour. The values of DBT plus TBT ranged between 0.60 and 29, 123 and 242 ng/l and 1.4 and 65 ng/g dry wt in SPM, water and sediment samples, respectively, collected from the Mandovi estuary. In the Dona Paula Bay the DBT plus TBT varied from 10 to 89 ng/l in surface seawater, and TBT from 10 to 513 ng/g in biofilm samples. For the coastal sediment samples the concentration of DBT plus TBT ranged between 36 and 133 ng/g dry wt of sediment. For the animal samples the DBT plus TBT ranged between 58 and 825 ng/g dry wt of the tissue. Mussel tissues contained the highest amount of DBT plus TBT (825 ng/g dry wt tissue), whereas highest TBT concentration was recorded in the oyster (732 ng/g dry wt). TBT was generally the most abundant butyltin compound in most of the samples suggesting fresh inputs and/or less degradation of TBT. A wide range of the observed butyltin concentrations suggests the presence of localized areas of contamination. Leaching of tributyltin-containing antifouling paints from the ocean going ships, fishing and recreational boats, barges, and the inputs of TBT from the Goa shipyard and dry dock facility situated in the harbour are the probable sources of the DBT and TBT in the samples of the west coast of India. Higher levels of TBT were observed in biofilm relative to that in the surrounding seawater. When fed on TBT contaminated biofilm of the diatom Navicula subinflata, butyltin concentrations in the clam Paphia malabarica increased over the period of feeding suggesting the importance of biofilm in the transfer of butyltins to higher group of organisms.     

Impact of long-term wastewater application on microbiological properties of vadose zone

Impact of wastewater irrigation on some biological properties was studied in an area where treated sewage water is being supplied to the farmers since 1979 in the western part of National Capital Territory of New Delhi under Keshopur Effluent Irrigation Scheme. Three fields were selected which had been receiving irrigation through wastewater for last 20, 10 and 5 years. Two additional fields were selected in which the source of irrigation water was tubewell. The soil bacterial and fungal population density was studied in soil layers of 0?C15, 15?C30, 30?C60 and 60?C120 cm depths. Groundwater samples were collected from the piezometers installed in the field irrigated with sewage water for last 20, 10 and 5 years. Results indicate that there was significant increase in bacterial and fungal count in sewage-irrigated soils as compared to their respective control. The population density of bacteria and fungi in waste water-irrigated soils increased with the duration of sewage water application and decreased with increasing depth. The bacterial and fungal count was also directly proportional to organic carbon, sand and silt content and negatively correlated to the clay content, electrical conductivity, pH and bulk density of the soil. Groundwater under sewage-irrigated fields had higher values of most probable number (MPN) index as compared to that of tubewell water-irrigated fields. All the shallow and deep groundwaters were found to be contaminated with faecal coliforms. The vadose zone had filtered the faecal coliform to the tune of 98?C99%, as the MPN index was reduced from ??18,000 per 100 ml of applied waste water to 310 per 100 ml of groundwater under 20 years sewage-irrigated field. The corresponding values of MPN were 250 and 130 per 100 ml of shallow groundwater under 10 and 05 years sewage-irrigated fields, respectively. Rapid detection of faecal contamination suggested that the Citrobacter freundii and Salmonella were dominant in shallow groundwater, while Escherichia coli was dominant in deep groundwater collected from sewage-irrigated field.     

Heterogeneous photocatalysis for removal of microbes from water

Increasing water pollution by microbes has become a source of serious health concern across the globe. Production of potentially carcinogenic disinfection by-products has marred credibility of traditional water purification techniques like chlorination. Photocatalysis has emerged as a promising alternative technique for the disinfection of water with minimal risk of harmful by-products. The process involves a wide band gap semiconductor material which, upon irradiation of light, produces electrons and holes with high redox potential to degrade organic contaminants and microbes. In this review, we analyze the research trends in photocatalytic inactivation of water borne microorganisms. This report analyzes the major factors that affect the disinfection efficiency using this process. The discussion also includes plausible mechanisms of microbial degradation as well as a kinetic model of the inactivation process. Different approaches, like doping of semiconductors or energy band engineering or plasmon coupling, have been reported for the enhancement and utilization of ambient solar light. Photocatalysis could be a cost-effective and environmentally friendly water purification technique though further research is required to enhance its efficiency with the use of solar light.     

Pesticide tolerance of Paenibacillus sp. D1 and its chitinase

Excessive use of pesticides in agriculture has led to several problems pertaining to loss of soil fertility and environmental degradation. Biological control agents offer the best alternative to reduce use of toxic pesticides. Paenibacillus sp. D1 isolated from the effluent treatment plant of a seafood processing industry exhibited broad spectrum tolerance towards a number of pesticides at concentrations higher than recommended for field applications. The isolate showed enhanced growth and chitinase production in the presence of some protectant fungicides. None of the tested demethylase inhibitor (DMI) fungicides inhibited growth and chitinase production except triadimefon. The isolate was also tolerant to most commonly used insecticides belonging to the organophosphate, carbamate and cyclodiene organochloride classes. Chitinase of Paenibacillus sp. D1 was found to be more tolerant than the organism itself and was highly stable in the presence of pesticides at the temperature under field conditions in Gujarat, India, i.e. 40 °C. This was suggestive of its potential in integrated pest management (IPM) to significantly reduce the use of harmful chemicals. To our knowledge this is the first extensive study on pesticide tolerance of the Paenibacillus species and its chitinase.