Environmental factors affecting the frequency of road traffic accidents: a case study of sub-urban area of Pakistan

Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are among the life-threatening issues facing rural as well as sub-/urban communities. Several factors contribute to RTAs ranging from human to technical and natural/environmental impacts. Anthropogenic air pollution and corresponding environmental factors also increase the probability of RTAs. Current study reports the relationship of the weather conditions to RTAs. The study establishes the relevancy of different weather conditions like rainfall, temperature, fog, and wind storm with the incidences of RTAs in rural and urban settings of Vehari, Punjab—Pakistan. The results of the study showed that rainfall, severe coldness, fog, and heat conditions were directly related with the occurrence of RTAs. The percentage of RTAs which occurred due to fog, rainfall, temperature, and other weather-related factors was 34, 25, 21, and 20%, respectively. The age of the driver significantly correlated (R²?=?0.60) with RTAs; the drivers in the age group 40–60 years caused the least RTAs during their drive. Since the smaller vehicles were involved in maximum RTAs, it relates negatively (R²?=?0.82) to vehicles power. Among different vehicles motor bikes were involved in most (42%) of the reported RTAs. Therefore, during severe weather conditions, vehicles with smaller size and young drivers must be dealt with carefully while interacting (crossing, overtaking, and maneuvering) on the roads regardless of rural or urban conditions. Factors including civic sense, traffic education, vehicle size, drivers’ maturity, road conditions, and environmental impacts may be considered while designing traffic rules and traffic aware campaigns specific for developing countries such as Pakistan.

     

Study of MoO3-γAl2O3 catalysts behavior in selective catalytic reduction of SO2 toxic gas to sulfur with CH4

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In the present study, a detailed investigation was carried out on MoO3 alumina-supported catalysts behavior in selective catalytic reduction of SO2 to...     

Effects of energy consumption and ecological footprint on CO2 emissions: an empirical evidence from Pakistan

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This study aims twofold; first, to analyze the effects of traditional energy, renewable energy, ecological footprint, urbanization, transportation on...     

Pollution and biodegradation of hexabromocyclododecanes: A review

• Bioremediation is the most cost-effective approach for degradation of HBCDs. • Bacteria or bacterial consortia are used in the cases of bio-augmentation. • Microbes combined with phytoremediation increase the remediation efficiency. Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) are the most common brominated flame-retardants after polybrominated diphenyl ethers. HBCDs can induce cancer by causing inappropriate antidiuretic hormone syndrome. Environmental contamination with HBCDs has been detected globally, with concentrations ranging from ng to mg. Methods to degrade HBCDs include physicochemical methods, bioremediation, and phytoremediation. The photodegradation of HBCDs using simulated sunlight or ultraviolet lamps, or chemical catalysts are inefficient and expensive, as is physicochemical degradation. Consequently, bioremediation is considered as the most cost-effective and clean approach. To date, five bacterial strains capable of degrading HBCDs have been isolated and identified: Pseudomonas sp. HB01, Bacillus sp. HBCD-sjtu, Achromobacter sp. HBCD-1, Achromobacter sp. HBCD-2, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa HS9. The molecular mechanisms of biodegradation of HBCDs are discussed in this review. New microbial resources should be explored to increase the resource library in order to identify more HBCD-degrading microbes and functional genes. Synthetic biology methods may be exploited to accelerate the biodegradation capability of existing bacteria, including modification of the degrading strains or functional enzymes, and artificial construction of the degradation microflora. The most potentially useful method is combining micro-degradation with physicochemical methods and phytoremediation. For example, exogenous microorganisms might be used to stimulate the adsorption capability of plants for HBCDs, or to utilize an interaction between exogenous microorganisms and rhizosphere microorganisms to form a new rhizosphere microbial community to enhance the biodegradation and absorption of HBCDs.     

Empirics on heterogeneous links among urbanization,the intensity of electric power consumption,water-based emissions,and economic progress in regional China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study investigates the heterogeneous causal linkages between urbanization, the intensity of electric power consumption, water-based pollutant...     

Growth and physiological response of spinach to various lithium concentrations in soil

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Lithium (Li) exploitation for industrial and domestic use is resulting in a buildup of the element in various environmental components that results in...     

Ability of Indian pennywort Bacopa monnieri (L.) Pennell in the phytoremediation of sewage (greywater)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The freely and abundantly available amphibious plant Indian pennywort Bacopa monnieri (L.) Pennell was able to phytoremediate sewage (greywater)...     

Batch and continuous biosorption of Cu by immobilized biomass of Arthrobacter sp.

The ability of free and polysulphone immobilized biomass of Arthrobacter sp. to remove Cu²⁺ ions from aqueous solution was studied in batch and continuous systems. The Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were applied to the data. The Langmuir isotherm model was found to fit the sorption data indicating that sorption was monolayer and uptake capacity (Q^o) was 175.87 and 158.7 mg/g for free and immobilized biomass respectively at pH 5.0 and 30 °C temperature, which was also confirmed by a high correlation coefficient, a low RMSE and a low Chi-square value. A kinetic study was carried out with pseudo-first-order reaction and pseudo-second-order reaction equations and it was found that the Cu²⁺ uptake process followed the pseudo-second-order rate expression. The diffusivity of Cu²⁺ on immobilized beads increased (0.402 × 10⁻⁴ to 0.435 × 10⁻⁴ cm²/s) with increasing concentration from 50 to 150 mg/L. The maximum percentage Cu²⁺ removal (89.56%) and uptake (32.64 mg/g) were found at 3.5 mL/min and 20 cm bed height. In addition to this the Bed Depth Service Time (BDST) model was in good agreement with the experimental data with a high correlation coefficient (>0.995). Furthermore, sorption and desorption studies were also carried out which showed that polysulphone immobilized biomass could be reused for up to six sorption–desorption cycles.     

Genotype-dependent effect of exogenous 24-epibrassinolide on chromium-induced changes in ultrastructure and physicochemical traits in tobacco seedlings

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Greenhouse hydroponic experiments were carried out using three different heavy metal accumulation tobacco genotypes to evaluate how different...     

Graphene and its derivatives: synthesis,modifications, and applications in wastewater treatment

Graphene was discovered in 2004 and has attracted intensive interests because of its unique mechanical, electric, thermal, optical, and structural properties, which makes graphene a potential candidate for various applications. Graphene is being used as a composite or filler material with metals, metal oxides, and polymers for potential advanced applications in solar cells, lithium-ion batteries, photocatalysis and sensing. These applications depend upon the distinctive properties of graphene, which in turn depend on the adopted synthetic approach. This article reviews the recent developments in synthesis of graphene and related composite materials. The synthesis of graphene through exfoliation, epitaxial growth and direct growth via carbon source, and modification approaches by covalent and noncovalent methodologies are discussed. Graphene-based metal and metal oxide composites for the purification of wastewater using photolytic process are also presented.