Biogeocomposite material and its heavy metal adsorption potential from aqueous solutions

Biosorption process is emerging as a potential alternative for the heavy metal removal from aqueous solutions. A packed bed column containing biomaterials like papaya leaf powder and paddy straw powder was used for copper removal from aqueous solutions. The breakthrough curve was having an S-shaped profile and the breakthrough time became less with increase in initial concentration. Percentage removal of copper was around 85% and 77% for papaya leaf powder and paddy straw powder, respectively for a contact time of 120 minutes and initial concentration of 10 mg/L. A biogeocomposite material was developed to test the enhancement in adsorption using layers of non-woven geotextile material and a significant increase in adsorption was obtained. With the addition of geotextile material in between papaya powder layer and paddy straw powder, there was an average increase of 12.66% and 11.98%, respectively for the removal. A biocomposite material was developed with a mixture of the two biosorbents and the adsorption value of the biocomposite material was in between the two biosorbents. The applicability of Yoon Nelson model and Adam Bohart model were also evaluated and the most suitable model came out to be Yoon and Nelson model.     

Berberine-loaded liquid crystalline nanoparticles inhibit non-small cell lung cancer proliferation and migration in vitro

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is reported to have a high incidence rate and is one of the most prevalent types of cancer contributing towards 85%...     

Autoantibodies and autoimmune disorders in SARS-CoV-2 infection: pathogenicity and immune regulation

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease associated with the respiratory system caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The aim of this...     

Enhancing Conservation,Ecosystem Services,and Local Livelihoods through a Wildlife Premium Mechanism

We propose the wildlife premium mechanism as an innovation to conserve endangered large vertebrates. The performance‐based payment scheme would allow stakeholders in lower‐income countries to generate revenue by recovering and maintaining threatened fauna that can also serve as umbrella species (i.e., species whose protection benefits other species with which they co‐occur). There are 3 possible options for applying the premium: option 1, embed premiums in a carbon payment; option 2, link premiums to a related carbon payment, but as independent and legally separate transactions; option 3, link premiums to noncarbon payments for conserving ecosystem services (PES). Each option presents advantages, such as incentive payments to improve livelihoods of rural poor who reside in or near areas harboring umbrella species, and challenges, such as the establishment of a subnational carbon credit scheme. In Kenya, Peru, and Nepal pilot premium projects are now underway or being finalized that largely follow option 1. The Kasigau (Kenya) project is the first voluntary carbon credit project to win approval from the 2 leading groups sanctioning such protocols and has already sold carbon credits totaling over $1.2 million since June 2011. A portion of the earnings is divided among community landowners and projects that support community members and has added over 350 jobs to the local economy. All 3 projects involve extensive community management because they occur on lands where locals hold the title or have a long‐term lease from the government. The monitoring, reporting, and verification required to make premium payments credible to investors include transparent methods for collecting data on key indices by trained community members and verification of their reporting by a biologist. A wildlife premium readiness fund would enable expansion of pilot programs needed to test options beyond those presented here. Mejora de la Conservación, Servicios del Ecosistema y Calidad de Vida Local Mediante un Mecanismo de Compensación de Vida Silvestre     

Occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in biosolids

Each year, large quantities of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are used worldwide. Once conveyed to wastewater treatment plants, PPCPs can remain unchanged or undergo partial or complete transformation during wastewater treatment processes before discharge into the environment via effluent and biosolids for land application. Biosolids can be a major sink for some PPCPs. Previous investigations have indicated that land application of biosolids may be a potential important route through which PPCPs enter the environment. However, no information is available on exactly how closely the concentrations of PPCPs in the environmental media are related to the land application of PPCP-containing biosolids. This paper reviews currently available information on the occurrence of PPCPs in biosolids, methods of analysis, the potential fate of PPCPs in biosolids-applied soils, and composting as a potential means for removal of PPCPs from biosolids.     

Effect of pH and Temperature on the Kinetics of Odor Oxidation Using Chlorine Dioxide

Abstract

Increasing public concerns over odors and air regulations in nonattainment zones necessitate the remediation of a wide range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) generated in the poultry-rendering industry. Currently, wet scrubbers using oxidizing chemicals such as chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) are utilized to treat VOCs. However, little information is available on the kinetics of ClO₂ reaction with rendering air pollutants, limiting wet scrubber design and optimization. Kinetic analysis indicated that ClO₂ does not react with hexanal and 2-methylbutanal regardless of pH and temperature and implied that alde-hyde removal occurs primarily via mass transfer. Contrary to the aldehydes, ethanethiol or ethyl mercaptan (a model compound for methanethiol or methyl mercaptan) and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) rapidly reacted with ClO₂. The overall reaction was found to be second and third order for ethanethiol and DMDS, respectively. Moreover, an increase in pH from 3.6 to 5.1 exponentially increased the reaction rate of ethanethiol (e.g., k ₂ = 25– 4200 L/mol/sec from pH 3.6 to 5.1) and significantly increased the reaction rate of DMDS if increased to pH 9 (k ₃ = 1.4 × 10⁶ L²/mol²/sec). Thus, a small increase in pH could significantly improve wet scrubber operations for removal of odor-causing compounds. However, an increase in pH did not improve aldehyde removal. The results explain why aldehyde removal efficiencies are much lower than methanethiol and DMDS in wet scrub-bers using ClO₂.     

Thermocatalytic Degradation of High Density Polyethylene into Liquid Product

Thermocatalytic degradation of high density polyethylene (HDPE) was carried out using acid activated fire clay catalyst in a semi batch reactor. Thermal pyrolysis was performed in the temperature range of 420–500 °C. The liquid and gaseous yields were increased with increase in temperature. The liquid yield was obtained 30.1 wt% with thermal pyrolysis at temperature of 450 °C, which increased to 41.4 wt% with catalytic pyrolysis using acid activated fire clay catalyst at 10 wt% of catalyst loading. The composition of liquid products obtained by thermal and catalytic pyrolysis was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and compounds identified for catalytic pyrolysis were mainly paraffins and olefins with carbon number range of C₆–C₁₈. The boiling point was found in the range of commercial fuels (gasoline, diesel) and the calorific value was calculated to be 42 MJ/kg.     

Novel Mercury Oxidant and Sorbent for Mercury Emissions Control from Coal-fired Power Plants

The authors have successfully developed novel efficient and cost-effective sorbent and oxidant for removing mercury from power plant flue gases. These sorbent and oxidant offer great promise for controlling mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants burning a wide range of coals including bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite coals. A preliminary analysis from the bench-scale test results shows that this new sorbent will be thermally more stable and cost-effective in comparison with any promoted mercury sorbents currently available in the marketplace. In addition to the sorbent, an excellent elemental mercury (Hg(0)) oxidant has also been developed, and will enable coal-fired power plants equipped with wet scrubbers to simultaneously control their mercury emissions as well as their sulfur oxides emissions. This will work by converting all elemental mercury to an oxidized form which will be removed by the wet scrubber. This will result in significant cost savings for mercury emissions control to the atmosphere, and will help in keeping electric costs low. The sorbent and oxidant will benefit from the utilization of a waste stream from the printed circuit board (PCB) industry, and would thus be environmentally beneficial to both of the utility and electronics industries. The sorbent also demonstrated thermal stability up to 350°C, suggesting a possibility of an application in pulverized coal-fired power plants equipped with hot-side electrostatic precipitators and coal gasification plants.