Adoption of green banking practices and environmental performance in Pakistan: a demonstration of structural equation modelling

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Banking industries are blamed to be among the major factors that affect global climate change both directly and indirectly. The green banking concept...     

Agroforestry environment,potentiality and risk in India: a remote sensing and GIS understanding

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The study utilized the tree covers per cent, agroforestry suitability, present and future (2050) climate, agriculture vulnerability (2050), percentage...     

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha,prostaglandin-E2 and interleukin-1β targeted anti-arthritic potential of fluvoxamine: drug repurposing

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Fluvoxamine, a selective serotonin re uptake inhibitor, is used to treat depression. The aim of present study was to evaluate fluvoxamine in acute...     

Microplastics in water,sediments, and fish at Alpine River,originating from the Hindu Kush Mountain,Pakistan: implications for conservation

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Microplastics (MP) pollution is an emerging threat to life and the environment. These particles are not restricted to human-inhabited lands but also...     

Quantification,characteristics, and distribution of microplastics released from waste burning furnaces and their associated health impacts

Although investigation of microplastics (MPs) present in air environment has been intensively carried out, quantification, characteristics, and distribution of MPs released from the waste burning furnace (WBF) has been missing in literature. The aim of this study was to characterize the presence of MPs released from WBFs and analyze their associated health impacts. The examined locations were at two WBFs (nominated as TPS1 and TPS2) in Sidoarjo, Indonesia. MPs were collected using a 9 cm diameter glass beaker for a period of 8 h at two different sampling points, which are 3 and 15 m from each WBF. Several characteristics of MPs in terms of the number of particles, size, shape, color, and polymer type were comprehensively characterized. This study found that the obtained MPs were of fiber type and in the range of 46–77 and 41–59 particles at TPS1 and TPS2, respectively. In general, the polymer types of MPs were, respectively, cellophane and polytetrafluoroethylene at TPS1 and TPS2. Moreover, it was estimated that about 1.9–2.3 MPs can enter the human body via inhalation. This study offers a pilot examination of MPs released from WBF and findings from this study are crucial to provide new knowledge as a basis to carefully regulate the use of WBF particularly that are located closely to local community.     

Evaluation of Traffic Noise Pollution in Amman, Jordan

The City of Amman, Jordan, has been subjected to persistent increase in road traffic due to overall increase in prosperity, fast development and expansion of economy, travel and tourism. This study investigates traffic noise pollution in Amman. Road traffic noise index L ₁₀(1 h) was measured at 28 locations that cover most of the City of Amman. Noise measurements were carried out at these 28 locations two times a day for a period of one hour during the early morning and early evening rush hours, in the presence and absence of a barrier. The Calculation of Road Traffic Noise (CRTN) prediction model was employed to predict noise levels at the locations chosen for the study. Data required for the model include traffic volume, speed, percentage of heavy vehicles, road surface, gradient, obstructions, distance, noise path, intervening ground, effect of shielding, and angle of view. The results of the investigation showed that the minimum and the maximum noise levels are 46 dB(A) and 81 dB(A) during day-time and 58 dB(A) and 71 dB(A) during night-time. The measured noise level exceeded the 62 dB(A) acceptable limit at most of the locations. The CTRN prediction model was successful in predicting noise levels at most of the locations chosen for this investigation, with more accurate predictions for night-time measurements.     

Effectiveness of HVAC Duct Cleaning Procedures in Improving Indoor Air Quality

Indoor air quality has become one of the most seriousenvironmental concerns as an average person spends about 22 hrindoors on a daily basis. The study reported in this article, wasconducted to determine the effectiveness of three commercialHVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) duct cleaning processes in reducing the level of airborne particulate matterand viable bioaerosols. The three HVAC sanitation processeswere: (1) Contact method (use of conventional vacuum cleaning ofinterior duct surfaces); (2) Air sweep method (use of compressedair to dislodging dirt and debris); (3) Rotary brush method(insertion of a rotary brush into the ductwork to agitate anddislodge the debris). Effectiveness of these sanitationprocesses was evaluated in terms of airborne particulate andviable bioaerosol concentrations in residential homes. Eightidentical homes were selected in the same neighborhood. Twohomes were cleaned using each procedure and two were used ascontrols. It was found that both particle count readings andbioaerosol concentrations were higher when cleaning was beingperformed than before or after cleaning, which suggests thatdirt, debris and other pollutants may become airborne as aresult of disturbances caused by the cleaning processes.Particle count readings at 0.3 micron size were found to haveincreased due to cigarette smoking. Particle counts at 1.0micron size were reduced due to HVAC duct cleaning. Post-levelbioaerosol concentrations, taken two days after cleaning, werefound to be lower than the pre-level concentrations suggestingthat the cleaning procedures were effective to some extent.Homes cleaned with the Air Sweep procedure showed the highestdegree of reduction in bioaerosol concentration among the threeprocedures investigated.     

Evaluating greywater reuse potential for sustainable water resources management in Oman

This study aims to evaluate the potential of greywater availability in Muscat Governorate in the Sultanate of Oman, to establish a methodology for greywater quantity estimation, to test greywater quality in order to assess reuse potential, and to examine public acceptance for reuse.Total fresh water consumption and greywater generation from different household sources were measured by water meters in five selected households during summer and winter. Additionally, a survey was designed and conducted in five administrative areas of Muscat Governorate, with the objective of testing a methodology for estimating greywater generation potential in these areas. Collected data were compared with that used by the Ministry of Housing, Electricity and Water, Sultanate of Oman. The survey covered a total of 169 houses and 1,365 people. Greywater samples were collected and analyzed from showers, laundries, kitchens and sinks in some of these households to determine their water quality parameters. Statistical analysis results indicated that there is no significant variance in the total fresh water consumption between data used by the ministry and those measured and estimated during this study, highlighting the applicability of the tested method. The study concluded that the average per capita greywater generation rate is 151 Lpcd. Greywater production ranged from 80 to 83% of the total fresh water consumption and most of the greywater is generated from showers. Further, 55 to 57% of the greywater generated in a typical Omani household originated from the shower, 28 to 33% originated from the kitchen, 6 to 9% originated from laundry, and 5 to 7% originated from sink, which constitutes approximately 81% of the total fresh water consumption. The physical, chemical, and biological analyses of the grab samples revealed that greywater contains significant levels of suspended solids, inorganic constituents, total organic carbon, chemical and biochemical oxygen demands, total Coliforms and Escherichia Coliform bacteria. The public acceptance survey illustrated that approximately 76% of the respondents accepted the reuse of greywater for gardening, 53% for car washing and 66% for toilet flushing.     

Trend in metals variation in Tasik Chini, Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia

Water from 15 sampling stations in Tasik Chini (Chini Lake), Peninsular Malaysia were sampled for 12 months from September 2004 until August 2005 and analyzed for 11 metals including iron (Fe), aluminum (Al), manganese (Mn), barium (Ba), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr) and cobalt (Co). Results showed that the mean (min-max) metal concentrations (in micrograms per liter) in Tasik Chini waters for the 12 months sampling based on 15 sampling stations (in descending order) for Fe, Al, Mn, Ba, Zn, Pb, Cu and Cd were 794.84 (309.33-1609.07), 194.53 (62.37-665.93), 29.16 (16.68-79.85), 22.07 (15.64-29.71), 5.12 (2.224-6.553), 2.36 (1.165-4.240), 0.832 (0.362-1.443) and 0.421 (0.254-0.696) respectively. Concentration for three metals i.e. Ni, Cr and Co were too low and not detected by the graphite furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). Comparison with various water quality standards showed that the mean metals concentration in surface water of Tasik Chini were low and within the range of natural background except for Fe and Al. In general, metal concentrations in Tasik Chini water varied temporally and spatially. The main factors influencing these metal concentrations in the water were the raining season and mining activities. Stations located at Tanjung Jerangking and Melai areas were the most effected due to those factors.     

Multivariate analysis of heavy metals concentrations in river estuary

Multivariate statistical techniques such as multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and discriminant analysis (DA) were applied for analyzing the data obtained from two rivers in the Penang State of Malaysia for the concentration of heavy metal ions (As, Cr, Cd, Zn, Cu, Pb, and Hg) using a flame atomic absorption spectrometry (F-AAS) for Cr, Cd, Zn, Cu, Pb, As and cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CV-AAS) for Hg. The two locations of interest with 20 sampling points of each location were Kuala Juru (Juru River) and Bukit Tambun (Jejawi River). MANOVA showed a strong significant difference between the two rivers in terms of heavy metal concentrations in water samples. DA gave the best result to identify the relative contribution for all parameters in discriminating (distinguishing) the two rivers. It provided an important data reduction as it used four parameters (Zn, Pb, Cd and Cr) affording 100% correct assignations. Results indicated that the two rivers were different in terms of heavy metals concentrations in water, and the major difference was due to the contribution of Zn. A negative correlation was found between discriminate functions (DF) and Cr and As, whereas positive correlation was exhibited with other heavy metals. Therefore, DA allowed a reduction in the dimensionality of the data set, delineating a few indicator parameters responsible for large variations in heavy metal concentrations. Correlation matrix between the parameters exhibited a strong evidence of mutual dependence of these metals.