Enhancement of lead uptake by alfalfa (Medicago sativa) using EDTA and a plant growth promoter

Phytoremediation is a novel cleanup technology for the removal of contaminants from polluted waters and soils. In phytoremediation, the plant uptake capability and the availability of the pollutant in the media are important. Here we show the results of a study on the combined effects of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and the phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) on Pb uptake by Medicago sativa (alfalfa). Plants were grown in hydroponics media containing a nutrient solution amended with Pb at 0.2mM and different combinations of EDTA, and IAA. After 10d of treatment, the Pb content in plant tissues was quantified using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP/OES). The results showed that the combination of 100 microM IAA/0.2 mM EDTA increased the Pb accumulation in leaves by about 2800% and by about 600%, as compared to Pb content in leaves of plants exposed to Pb alone and those cultivated with Pb/EDTA, respectively. These results indicate that non-metal hyperaccumulator plants could increase their hyperaccumulating potential without genetic manipulation.     

Political transition and emergent forest‐conservation issues in Myanmar

Political and economic transitions have had substantial impacts on forest conservation. Where transitions are underway or anticipated, historical precedent and methods for systematically assessing future trends should be used to anticipate likely threats to forest conservation and design appropriate and prescient policy measures to counteract them. Myanmar is transitioning from an authoritarian, centralized state with a highly regulated economy to a more decentralized and economically liberal democracy and is working to end a long‐running civil war. With these transitions in mind, we used a horizon‐scanning approach to assess the 40 emerging issues most affecting Myanmar's forests, including internal conflict, land‐tenure insecurity, large‐scale agricultural development, demise of state timber enterprises, shortfalls in government revenue and capacity, and opening of new deforestation frontiers with new roads, mines, and hydroelectric dams. Averting these threats will require, for example, overhauling governance models, building capacity, improving infrastructure‐ and energy‐project planning, and reforming land‐tenure and environmental‐protection laws. Although challenges to conservation in Myanmar are daunting, the political transition offers an opportunity for conservationists and researchers to help shape a future that enhances Myanmar's social, economic, and environmental potential while learning and applying lessons from other countries. Our approach and results are relevant to other countries undergoing similar transitions.     

An index to quantify street cleanliness: The case of Granada (Spain)

Urban surfaces receive waste deposits from natural and human sources, which create a negative visual impact and are identified as potentially significant contributors to water and air pollution. Local councils are usually responsible for the sweep of roads and footpaths to keep the environment clean and free of litter. Quality controls are useful in order to check whether the services are being executed according to the quantity, quality and performance standards that are provided. In this sense, several factors might affect the efficiency of the management of cleaning and waste collection services; however, only a few contributions are available in the literature on the various aspects associated with the level of street cleanliness. In this paper, the suitability of a Cleanliness Index has been checked, for the case of Granada (South of Spain), in order to contribute to the proper management of public expenditure, improving the quality and cost of an essential service for any municipality. Results have concluded that the city exhibits a good level of cleanliness, although the standard of cleaning varied from one area of the city to another. The Cleaning Index fits well to the general situation of the different districts of Granada and thus, it could be considered a useful tool for measuring the level of cleanliness of the streets of the city and for evaluating the organization of the cleaning service, such that an outsourced company would not be responsible for controlling all the cleaning services.     

Correction to: Briquettes of acai seeds: characterization of the biomass and influence of the parameters of production temperature and pressure in the physical-mechanical and energy quality

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A Correction to this paper has been published: 10.1007/s11356-021-16529-z     

A tubular ceramic membrane coated with TiO2-P25 for radial addition of H2O2 towards AMX removal from synthetic solutions and secondary urban wastewater

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This work aims to integrate several hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) activation mechanisms, photolysis (UVC irradiation), chemical electron transfer (TiO2-P25...     

Occurrence,impact, and elimination of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in soil,water, and air streams: advances and challenges in Ibero-American countries

Environmental Science and Pollution Research -     

Assessing the effects of multivariate functional outlier identification and sample robustification on identifying critical PM2.5 air pollution episodes in Medellín,Colombia

Environmental and Ecological Statistics - Identification of critical episodes of environmental pollution, both as a outlier identification problem and as a classification problem, is a usual...