Dental clinics: a point pollution source, not only of mercury but also of other amalgam constituents

Current literature suggests that amalgam waste from dental clinics is a point-source of mercury pollution in the environment. However, apart from mercury, other amalgam constituents (e.g. Ag, Sn, Cu, and Zn) in dental clinics’ wastewater have not been reported in the literature before. The objective of this study was to evaluate the concentrations of mercury and other metals in the wastewater of some dental clinics and the influent of a wastewater treatment plant in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah (KSA). Samples were collected over a 2-month period from three dental clinics and analyzed for metals using ICP-MS. The mean concentrations of Hg, Ag, Sn, Cu, and Zn in the samples were 5.3 ± 11.1, 0.49 ± 0.96, 3.0 ± 10.7, 10.0 ± 14.5, and 76.7 ± 106 mg L⁻¹, respectively. Additionally, high concentrations of other metals such as Mg (14.4 ± 15.2 mg L⁻¹), Mn (3.0 ± 4.6 mg L⁻¹), Fe (3.0 ± 4.5 mg L⁻¹), Sr (1.6 ± 2.4 mg L⁻¹), and Ba (6.9 ± 10.3 mg L⁻¹) were also found. These values are much higher than the local permissible limits. Most of the metals of interest were also detected in the influent of the wastewater treatment plant. This renders dental clinics wastewater a hazardous waste which should be properly treated before it is discharged into the environment.     

Efficacy and safety of doravirine in treatment-naive HIV-1-infected adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This research aims to study the safety and efficacy of doravirine in the treatment of HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency virus) patients. We conducted an...     

EDTA-nSiO2纳米颗粒对Cd2+的吸附

nSiO_2纳米颗粒是一种广泛应用的工程纳米材料,为增加其对水溶液中Cd~(2+)的吸附性能,采用接枝改性的方法制备出乙二胺四乙酸(EDTA)改性nSiO_2纳米颗粒(EDTA-nSiO_2),并用透射电镜、氮气吸附-解吸、红外光谱和差热分析等手段对其进行了结构表征,同时以其为吸附剂,通过批处理实验法探讨了体系pH、吸附时间、温度、离子强度等因素对Cd~(2+)吸附的影响,并结合X射线能谱(XPS)分析对其吸附机制进行了分析.结果表明,以EDTA为改性剂,可以成功制备出稳定性良好的EDTA-nSiO_2纳米颗粒,其对Cd~(2+)的吸附受体系p H控制;nSiO_2对Cd~(2+)的吸附量较小,EDTA改性可增加nSiO_2对Cd~(2+)的吸附作用,随着p H的升高,Cd~(2+)的吸附效果逐渐增强,在p H大于4.0后逐渐趋于稳定.EDTA-nSiO_2对Cd~(2+)的吸附速率较快,可在1 h内达到吸附平衡.EDTA-nSiO_2对Cd~(2+)的吸附为吸热的自发过程,吸附等温线可用Langmuir模型描述.NaCl浓度增加会导致Cd~(2+)的吸附量下降,当体系Na Cl浓度从0增加到100 mmol·L~(-1),Cd~(2+)的最大吸附量从0.433 mmol·g-1降低至0.294mmol·g-1.0.1 mol·L~(-1)HCl是较为合适的吸附剂再生液,Cd~(2+)洗脱率约94.36%.结合pH、温度、离子强度、再生和XPS分析结果,可以推测出EDTA-nSiO_2对Cd~(2+)的吸附是包含有简单的物理吸附和离子交换过程,并以化学络合为主的吸附过程.EDTA-nSiO_2是一种对水体Cd~(2+)具有较好吸附能力的工程纳米材料吸附剂.     

Effects of the green supply chain management practices on firm performance and sustainable development

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The idea of sustainable development and green supply chain management is considered at the underlying stage in the research and academic fields,...     

CO2 separation by supported liquid membranes synthesized with natural deep eutectic solvents

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Betaine-based natural deep eutectic solvents (NADESs), a new class of green solvents, were immobilized into a porous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)...     

Municipal solid waste generation in China: influencing factor analysis and multi-model forecasting

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - In the developing countries, the inadequacy of basic waste data is a significant obstacle for municipal solid waste management. To evaluate an...     

Determining heavy metals in spent compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and their waste management challenges: Some strategies for improving current conditions

From environmental viewpoint, the most important advantage of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) is reduction of green house gas emissions. But their significant disadvantage is disposal of spent lamps because of containing a few milligrams of toxic metals, especially mercury and lead. For a successful implementation of any waste management plan, availability of sufficient and accurate information on quantities and compositions of the generated waste and current management conditions is a fundamental prerequisite. In this study, CFLs were selected among 20 different brands in Iran. Content of heavy metals including mercury, lead, nickel, arsenic and chromium was determined by inductive coupled plasma (ICP). Two cities, Tehran and Tabriz, were selected for assessing the current waste management condition of CFLs. The study found that waste generation amount of CFLs in the country was about 159.80, 183.82 and 153.75 million per year in 2010, 2011 and 2012, respectively. Waste generation rate of CFLs in Iran was determined to be 2.05 per person in 2012. The average amount of mercury, lead, nickel, arsenic and chromium was 0.417, 2.33, 0.064, 0.056 and 0.012 mg per lamp, respectively. Currently, waste of CFLs is disposed by municipal waste stream in waste landfills. For improving the current conditions, we propose by considering the successful experience of extended producer responsibility (EPR) in other electronic waste management. The EPR program with advanced recycling fee (ARF) is implemented for collecting and then recycling CFLs. For encouraging consumers to take the spent CFLs back at the end of the products’ useful life, a proportion of ARF (for example, 50%) can be refunded. On the other hand, the government and Environmental Protection Agency should support and encourage recycling companies of CFLs both technically and financially in the first place.     

Factors affecting the distribution of microplastics in soils of China

● Microplastic (MP) abundance in soil of China was highly heterogeneous. ● MP abundance was higher near large rivers and central land affected by monsoons. ● MP abundance was correlated with longitude, mulching film, and average temperature. ● Factors suitable for predicting MP pollution using models were discussed. Microplastics (MPs) are found worldwide in high abundance, posing a potential threat to ecosystems. Despite the ubiquity of MPs in the environment, very little is known about the regional distribution of MPs and underlying factors affecting this distribution in the field, which likely include human activity, but also features of the environment itself. Here, out of a total of 1157 datapoints investigated in 53 Chinese studies, 9.68% datapoints were removed as outliers in the heterogeneity analysis. This review revealed that the abundance of MPs was highly heterogeneous. In addition, microplastic (MP) distribution maps based on China demonstrated that the highest abundance of MPs tended to occur near large rivers and central land affected by the intersection of two monsoons. The model-fitting and previous studies showed that MP abundance in China was correlated with longitude, agricultural mulching film usage per capita, temperature, and precipitation. However, due to the heterogeneity of MPs and the low matching degree between the current environmental data and the sampling points, this pattern was not as evident as reported in any single study. Factors affecting the distribution of MPs can not be captured by linear relationships alone, and systematic selection of suitable environmental factors and further model optimization are needed to explore the cause of MP pollution in soil. Overall, this review revealed an uneven distribution of MPs and serves as a reference for model prediction to assess and control plastic pollution in natural soil environments.     

Imidacloprid residues in fruits,vegetables and water samples from Palestine

The aim of this work was to report on imidacloprid [IUPAC name 1-(6-chloro-3-pyridylmethyl)-N-nitroimidazolidin-2-ylideneamine] residues in some vegetables, fruits, and water samples collected from the West Bank, Palestine, in 1998 and 1999. Imidacloprid and its derivatives in the study samples were extracted by methanol/water and oxidized into 6-chloronicotinic acid and subsequently derivatized into 6-chloronicotinic acid trimethylsilyl ester before being determined by GC/MS. Imidacloprid residues were detected in more than half of the analyzed samples. The highest and lowest imidacloprid concentrations were found in eggplant (0.46 mg/kg) and green beans (0.08 mg/kg), respectively. An increase of 11–120% in imidacloprid concentration in the 1999 samples was observed when compared with those of 1998. This may suggest imidacloprid accumulation in the soil and/or increased use by local farmers. The imidacloprid residue concentrations in several crops were found to exceed the CODEX maximum residue limit.     

Synthesis of magnetite-based nanocomposites for effective removal of brilliant green dye from wastewater

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The present study aims at evaluating the batch scale potential of cotton shell powder (CSP), Moringa oleifera leaves (ML), and magnetite-assisted...