Bacterial and archaeal diversity in oil fields and reservoirs and their potential role in hydrocarbon recovery and bioprospecting

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Hydrocarbon is a primary source of energy in the current urbanized society. Considering the increasing demand, worldwide oil productions are declining...     

Spatio-temporal assessment of ambient air quality,their health effects and improvement during COVID-19 lockdown in one of the most polluted cities of India

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The present work aims to investigate seasonal variations in air pollution levels in Lucknow and assess the ambient air quality of the city together...     

Removal of chromate ions from leachate-contaminated groundwater samples of Khan Chandpur,India, using chitin modified iron-enriched hydroxyapatite nanocomposite

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Chromite ore processing residues (COPR) are real environmental threats, leading to CrO42-, i.e., Cr (VI) leaching into groundwater. It is of serious...     

Translocation of aged cyclodiene insecticide residues from soil into forage crops and pastures at various growth stages under field conditions.

Field trials were conducted to measure translocation of pesticides by summer and winter forage/pasture species from soil containing aged residues of heptachlor and, to a lesser extent, dieldrin. Substantial amounts of heptachlor epoxide, and lesser amounts of gamma-chlordane were translocated to plants from contaminated soil. Residue levels varied with crop species and stage of plant development. In summer crops residues were higher in soybean > cowpeas > lab-lab > Sorghum > millet > sweet saccaline at the grazing and mature stages. Compared to glasshouse studies undertaken previously, residues in crops grown under field conditions were much lower. This apparently reflects the lower soil moisture levels and the reduced rates of translocation. Heptachlor residues in winter crops were highest in Saia oats > Berseem clover > Haifa clover > Cassia oats > Tetila ryegrass > Schooner barley > Shaftal clover > Hunter river lucerne at the grazing stage. There were no detectable levels in barley and oats at the mature stage. No dieldrin residues were translocated into the various crop species.     

Fly ash for the treatment of Zn(II) rich effluents

Summary The ability of fly ash to remove Zn(II) from water by adsorption has been tested at different concentrations, temperatures and pH of the solution. It was found that low adsorbate concentration, small particle size of adsorbent and higher temperature favoured the removal of Zn(II) from aqueous solution. The Langmuir isotherm was used to represent the equilibrium data at different temperatures. The apparent heat of adsorption has been found to be 17.325 Kcal mol^–1, which indicates the process to be endothermic. The uptake of Zn(II) is diffusion controlled and the mass transfer coefficient is 3.56 × 10^–5 cm s ^–1.The maximum removal was noted at pH 7.5. Dr V.N. Singh is Professor and Head of the Department of Applied Chemistry, Dr A.K. and Prof. D.P. Singh are members of the Department of Mining Engineering; all are situated in the Institute of Technology at Banaras Hindu University.     

Economics of salt‐induced land degradation and restoration

Food security concerns and the scarcity of new productive land have put productivity enhancement of degraded lands back on the political agenda. In such a context, salt‐affected lands are a valuable resource that cannot be neglected nor easily abandoned even with their lower crop yields, especially in areas where significant investments have already been made in irrigation and drainage infrastructure. A review of previous studies shows a very limited number of highly variable estimates of the costs of salt‐induced land degradation combined with methodological and contextual differences. Simple extrapolation suggests that the global annual cost of salt‐induced land degradation in irrigated areas could be US$ 27.3 billion because of lost crop production. We present selected case studies that highlight the potential for economic and environmental benefits of taking action to remediate salt‐affected lands. The findings indicate that it can be cost‐effective to invest in sustainable land management in countries confronting salt‐induced land degradation. Such investments in effective remediation of salt‐affected lands should form part of a broader strategy for food security and be defined in national action plans. This broader strategy is required to ensure the identification and effective removal of barriers to the adoption of sustainable land management, such as perverse subsidies. Whereas reversing salt‐induced land degradation would require several years, interim salinity management strategies could provide a pathway for effective remediation and further showcase the importance of reversing land degradation and the rewards of investing in sustainable land management.     

Correction to: Experimental performance evaluation of an impinging jet with fins type solar air heater

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12458-z     

Chromium phytoextraction from tannery effluent-contaminated soil by Crotalaria juncea infested with Pseudomonas fluorescens

The aim of present study was to remediate chromium (Cr)-contaminated soil by Crotalaria juncea in the presence of Pseudomonas fluorescens. Inoculation of P. fluorescens in pot soil grown with C. juncea significantly increased (~2-fold) the water-soluble (Ws) and exchangeable (Ex) Cr contents in contaminated soil under greenhouse condition. It also enhanced the chlorophyll content by 92 % and plant biomass by 99 % as compared to the uninoculated C. juncea plant. The analysis showed that root and shoot uptake of Cr in C. juncea inoculated by P. fluorescens was 3.08- and 2.82-fold, respectively. This research showed that the association of C. juncea and P. fluorescens could be a promising technology for increasing the soil Cr bioavailability and plant growth for successful phytoextraction of Cr from the contaminated soil.     

Toxicity and regulations of food nanomaterials

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Food nanotechnology has been rapidly growing in last decade due to the unique properties of nanomaterials. Nonetheless, the presence of nanomaterials in food...     

Studies of thermodynamics of phosphomidon on fly ash

Adsorption thermodynamic studies of phosphomidon on fly ash at 25° and 50°C have been analysed as adsorption isotherms, Freundlich equations, K_d values and various other thermodynamic parameters. These data were in close agreement with Freundlich isotherms and yield ‘S’ type isotherms at both the temperatures. Thermodynamic constants (K_o) and standard free energy (ΔG°), enthalpy (ΔH°) and entropy changes (ΔS°) have been calculated for predicting the nature of adsorption.