Arsenic concentrations in rice, vegetables, and fish in Bangladesh: a preliminary study

Arsenic contaminating groundwater in Bangladesh is one of the largest environmental health hazards in the world. Because of the potential risk to human health through consumption of agricultural produce grown in fields irrigated with arsenic contaminated water, we have determined the level of contamination in 100 samples of crop, vegetables and fresh water fish collected from three different regions in Bangladesh. Arsenic concentrations were determined by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrophotometry. All 11 samples of water and 18 samples of soil exceeded the expected limits of arsenic. No samples of rice grain (Oryza sativa L.) had arsenic concentrations more than the recommended limit of 1.0 mg/kg. However, rice plants, especially the roots had a significantly higher concentration of arsenic (2.4 mg/kg) compared to stem (0.73 mg/kg) and rice grains (0.14 mg/kg). Arsenic contents of vegetables varied; those exceeding the food safety limits included Kachu sak (Colocasia antiquorum) (0.09-3.99 mg/kg, n=9), potatoes (Solanum tuberisum) (0.07-1.36 mg/kg, n=5), and Kalmi sak (Ipomoea reptoms) (0.1-1.53 mg/kg, n=6). Lata fish (Ophicephalus punctatus) did not contain unacceptable levels of arsenic. These results indicate that arsenic contaminates some food items in Bangladesh. Further studies with larger samples are needed to demonstrate the extent of arsenic contamination of food in Bangladesh.     

Carbaryl, 2,4-D, and Triclopyr adsorption in thatch-soil ecosystems

Thatch development in intensively managed turf sites may cause environmental concerns for greater sorption or leaching of applied chemicals in terrestrial ecosystems. To determine the adsorption potential of Carbaryl (1-Napthyl N-methylcarbamate), 2,4-D (2,4-dichloro-phenoxyacetic acid), and Triclopyr (3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinyloxyacetic acid) in turf ecosystems, composite thatch and underlying soil samples from three-and six-year-old stands of cool-season Southshore creeping bentgrass (Agrostis palustris Huds.) and warm-season Meyer zoysiagrass (Zoysia japonica Steud.) were collected. The samples were processed and analyzed for total organic carbon (COrg); extractable (CExt), humic (CHA) and fulvic acid (CFA); anthrone reactive nonhumic carbon (ARC) fractions; and CHA and CFA associated iron (Fe) contents. Pesticide adsorption capacity (Kf) and intensity (1/n), organic carbon partition coefficient (KOC) and Gibbs free energy change (deltaG) were calculated for thatch materials and the underlying soils using a modified batch/flow technique. Both bentgrass (BT) and zoysiagrass thatch (ZT) contained a greater concentration of CExt, CFA, CHA, and ARC than the respective soils (BS and ZS). The CExt, CFA, CHA, and ARC concentration was higher in BT compared with ZT. The BT contained a greater concentration of bound Fe in both CFA and CHA fractions than in BS, whereas ZT had more bound Fe in CHA fraction than in ZS. On average, the BT had a greater concentration of bound Fe in CExt, CFA, and CHA fractions than in the ZT. Among the pesticides, Carbaryl had higher Kf and 1/n values than 2,4-D and Triclopyr for both thatch and soil. Although the KOC and deltaG values of Carbaryl were higher in both BT and ZT than in the underlying soils, the KOC and deltaG values of 2,4-D were significantly higher in BS and ZS than in the overlying thatch materials. The 2,4-D and Triclopyr had higher leaching indices (LI) than Carbaryl for both BT and ZT materials than the respective soils. The Carbaryl, however, had a higher LI for soils than for thatch materials. Averaged across thatch materials and soils, COrg accounted for 96, 85, and 84% variations in Carbaryl, 2,4-D, and Triclopyr adsorption, respectively. Among the COrg fractions, lignin followed by CFA and CHA accounted for greater adsorption of pesticides, especially Carbaryl. The concentration of CHA and CFA bound Fe did not correlate with Kf and 1/n values of pesticides.     

Current scenario and challenges of plastic pollution in Bangladesh: a focus on farmlands and terrestrial ecosystems

● A global snapshot of plastic waste generation and disposal is analysed. ● Effect of plastic pollution on environment and terrestrial ecosystem is reviewed. ● Ecotoxicity and food security from plastic pollution is discussed. Plastic is considered one of the most indispensable commodities in our daily life. At the end of life, the huge ever-growing pile of plastic waste (PW) causes serious concerns for our environment, including agricultural farmlands, groundwater quality, marine and land ecosystems, food toxicity and human health hazards. Lack of proper infrastructure, financial backup, and technological advancement turn this hazardous waste plastic management into a serious threat to developing countries, especially for Bangladesh. A comprehensive review of PW generation and its consequences on environment in both global and Bangladesh contexts is presented. The dispersion routes of PW from different sources in different forms (microplastic, macroplastic, nanoplastic) and its adverse effect on agriculture, marine life and terrestrial ecosystems are illustrated in this work. The key challenges to mitigate PW pollution and tackle down the climate change issue is discussed in this work. Moreover, way forward toward the design and implementation of proper PW management strategies are highlighted in this study.     

Evidential role of municipal solid waste and liquid effluent on environment and public health

Cities in Bangladesh produce large amounts of solid waste (SW) through various human activities which severely pollutes our native environment. As a result, SW pollutes the three basic environmental elements (air, water, and soil) by increasing pathogenic microbial load, which might be hazardous to public health directly or indirectly. In this study, we conducted 30 samples (i.e., soil, water, and air) collected from areas where municipal solid wastes are dumped (Tangail Sadar Upazila, Bangladesh). All the samples were analyzed to assess bacteriological quality for presumptive viable and coliform count using different agar media. We performed serial dilution 10⁻³–10⁻¹⁰ times for soil and water samples, and the diluted samples were spread on Mac-Conkey agar and nutrient agar plates. For the air sample, the sterile media containing petri-dish was placed adjacent to the dumpsite of the municipal waste and kept for an hour. Then all the samples were incubated at 37°C overnight for total viable count (TVC) and total coliform count (TCC). Biochemical tests and PCR were performed for the identification of these microorganisms. The antibiogram study was performed to reveal their (identified bacteria) susceptibility against clinically used antibiotics according to the standard disk diffusion technique. The highest bacterial loads were found in the air: TVC 3.273 × 10³ and TCC 1.059 × 10³ CFU/plate; tube-well water: TVC 8.609 × 10³, and TCC 8.317 × 10³ CFU/mL; in surface water: TVC 6.24 × 10¹³ CFU/mL and TCC 2.2 × 10¹² CFU/mL; in soil: TVC 2.88 × 10¹¹ and TCC 1.02 × 10¹¹ CFU/g, respectively. Microbes from SW can be transmitted through air, dust particles, or flies, and here we found an average of 1120 microbes spread over 63.61 cm² area per hour. Eight bacterial isolates (Pseudomonas spp., Klebsiella spp., E. coli, Proteus spp., V. cholera, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., and Vibrio spp.) were identified by the biochemical test. Among them, E. coli and Shigella spp. were further ensured by PCR targeting bfpA and ipaH genes. Antibiotic susceptibility test results showed that E. coli isolates were highly resistant to erythromycin (80%); Shigella spp. were resistant to nalidixic acid (90%), whereas Salmonella spp. was found resistant to kanamycin (90%). Vibrio spp. were also resistant to azithromycin (80%) and erythromycin (80%), which should be a great concern for us. A semi-structured survey revealed that 63% of respondents suffered from different clinical conditions (intestinal diseases) due to SW pollution. So, steps should be taken to improve the proper management and disposal of solid waste and liquid effluent to save our environment and public health.     

An effective dietary survey framework for the assessment of total dietary arsenic intake in Bangladesh: Part-A—FFQ design

Groundwater contaminated with arsenic (As), when extensively used for irrigation, causes potentially long term detrimental effects to the landscape. Such contamination can also directly affect human health when irrigated crops are primarily used for human consumption. Therefore, a large number of humans are potentially at risk worldwide due to daily As exposure. Numerous previous studies have been severely limited by small sample sizes which are not reliably extrapolated to large populations or landscapes. Human As exposure and risk assessment are no longer simple assessments limited to a few food samples from a small area. The focus of more recent studies has been to perform risk assessment at the landscape level involving the use of biomarkers to identify and quantify appropriate health problems and large surveys of human dietary patterns, supported by analytical testing of food, to quantify exposure. This approach generates large amounts of data from a wide variety of sources and geographic information system (GIS) techniques have been used widely to integrate the various spatial, demographic, social, field, and laboratory measured datasets. With the current worldwide shift in emphasis from qualitative to quantitative risk assessment, it is likely that future research efforts will be directed towards the integration of GIS, statistics, chemistry, and other dynamic models within a common platform to quantify human health risk at the landscape level. In this paper we review the present and likely future trends of human As exposure and GIS application in risk assessment at the landscape level.     

Assessing the genotoxic potentials of arsenic in tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) using alkaline comet assay and micronucleus test

This experiment was conducted to study the genotoxic potentials of sodium arsenite (NaAsO₂) in freshwater fish Oreochromis mossambicus by using alkaline comet assay and micronucleus (MN) test. Fish were exposed to three different concentrations (3 ppm, 28 ppm and 56 ppm) of arsenic and gill, liver and blood tissue samples were collected after 48 h, 96 h and 192 h of exposure. Arsenic exposure induced DNA damage in all tissues examined in a concentration dependent manner. A significant (p < 0.05) increase in the comet tail DNA (%) of the exposed fish liver, gill, and blood was observed after 48 h and 96 h of exposure, but a decline in DNA damage was recorded in all the tissues at all the three concentrations studied after 192 h of exposure. Liver tissue exhibited significantly (p < 0.05) higher DNA damage at all the concentrations examined, followed by gill and blood. Higher liver tail DNA (51.38 ± 0.21%) refers that it is more prone to injury to arsenic toxicity than the gill and blood. In blood samples arsenic induced micronucleus formation in a concentration dependent manner and highest (5.8 ± 0.46%) value was recorded in 56 ppm after 96 h of exposure, whereas, it was decreased after 192 h of exposure at all the three concentrations of NaAsO₂ examined which refers to the DNA repairing ability of fish to arsenic toxicity. The results of this study depict the genotoxic potentials of arsenic to fish which in turns provide insight on advanced study in aquatic toxicology.     

Arsenic uptake and phytotoxicity of T-aman rice (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Oryza sativa</Emphasis> L.) grown in the As-amended soil of Bangladesh

A pot-culture experiment was conducted in open-field conditions with highly cultivated locally transplanted (T) aman rice (Oryza sativa L.) named BR-22 in arsenic (As)-amended soil (0, 1.0, 5.0, 10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0 and 50.0 mg kg⁻¹ As) of Bangladesh to see the effect of As on the growth, yield and metal uptake of rice. Arsenic was applied to soil in the form of sodium arsenate (Na₂HAsO₄). Arsenic affected the plant height, tiller and panicle numbers, grain and straw yield of T-aman rice significantly (P ≤ 0.05). The grain As uptake of T-aman rice was found to increase with increase of As in soil and a high grain As uptake was observed in the treatments of 30–50 mg kg⁻¹ As-containing soil. These levels exceed the food hygiene concentration limit of 1.0 mg kg⁻¹ As. However, the straw As uptake varied significantly (P ≤ 0.05) from a low concentration of As in soil (5 mg kg⁻¹) and the highest uptake was noticed in 20 mg kg⁻¹ As treatment.     

A Calibrated,High‐Resolution GOES Satellite Solar Insolation Product for a Climatology of Florida Evapotranspiration1

Paech, Simon J., John R. Mecikalski, David M. Sumner, Chandra S. Pathak, Quinlong Wu, Shafiqul Islam, and Taiye Sangoyomi, 2009. A Calibrated, High‐Resolution GOES Satellite Solar Insolation Product for a Climatology of Florida Evapotranspiration. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 45(6):1328‐1342. Abstract: Estimates of incoming solar radiation (insolation) from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite observations have been produced for the state of Florida over a 10‐year period (1995‐2004). These insolation estimates were developed into well‐calibrated half‐hourly and daily integrated solar insolation fields over the state at 2 km resolution, in addition to a 2‐week running minimum surface albedo product. Model results of the daily integrated insolation were compared with ground‐based pyranometers, and as a result, the entire dataset was calibrated. This calibration was accomplished through a three‐step process: (1) comparison with ground‐based pyranometer measurements on clear (noncloudy) reference days, (2) correcting for a bias related to cloudiness, and (3) deriving a monthly bias correction factor. Precalibration results indicated good model performance, with a station‐averaged model error of 2.2 MJ m^?2/day (13%). Calibration reduced errors to 1.7 MJ m^?2/day (10%), and also removed temporal‐related, seasonal‐related, and satellite sensor‐related biases. The calibrated insolation dataset will subsequently be used by state of Florida Water Management Districts to produce statewide, 2‐km resolution maps of estimated daily reference and potential evapotranspiration for water management‐related activities.     

Correcting sample selection in FARS data to estimate seatbelt use

Introduction

In this paper, we show that FARS data can be a comparable alternative to observational NOPUS data in estimating seat belt use in the United States once we correct for sample selection bias.

Results

Based on assumptions of independence for seatbelt choice, we establish a lower and upper bound for seatbelt usage rates, and find that once we correct for sample selection bias, the seatbelt usage estimates from the corrected FARS emerge at least as a comparable alternative to NOPUS estimates.

Impact on Industry

This implies that researchers can use corrected FARS to complement NOPUS, thus being able to utilize the rich cross-sectional details available in FARS data to analyze various relevant research questions.     

Influence of Fiber Treatment on the Mechanical and Morphological Properties of Sawdust Reinforced Polypropylene Composites

In the present work, sawdust reinforced polypropylene composites were fabricated using an extruder and an injection molding machine. Raw sawdust was chemically treated with benzene diazonium salt in order to improve the mechanical properties of the composites. The effect of the chemically treated sawdust reinforced PP composites was evaluated from their mechanical and surface morphological properties. The values of the mechanical properties of the chemically treated sawdust–PP composites were found to be significantly higher than those of the raw ones. Water uptake tests revealed that composites prepared from the chemically treated sawdust absorb lower amount of water compared to the ones prepared from raw sawdust, suggesting that hydrophilic nature of the cellulose in the sawdust has significantly decreased upon chemical treatment. The surface morphology obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that raw sawdust–PP composites possess surface roughness with extruded filler moieties, and weak interfacial adhesion between the matrix and the filler while the chemically treated one showed improved filler–matrix interaction. This indicates that better dispersion of the filler with the PP matrix has occurred upon chemical treatment of the filler.