Aqueous carbonation of peridotites for carbon utilisation: a critical review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Peridotite and serpentinites can be used to sequester CO2 emissions through mineral carbonation. Olivine dissolution rate is directly proportional...     

Recovery of critical metals from leach solution of electronic waste using magnetite electrospun carbon nanofibres composite

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Scarcity in mining and geo-political direction diverts attention toward critical metal recycling. Gallium (Ga), indium (In) and germanium (Ge) are...     

Comparative analysis using EIA for developed and developing countries: case studies of hydroelectric power plants in Pakistan,Norway and Sweden

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is an important legislative and scientific tool that may assist and improve the quality assistance for the decision-making process in sustainable development. Here, a comparison of EIAs from three cases of hydropower projects in Pakistan, Norway and Sweden is reported. A huge difference concerning the incorporation of environmental considerations into the decisionmaking process between developed and developing countries is observed. The EIA system of Pakistan appears to be less efficient in the application and review process. In addition, the appraisal of issues, the decision-making process and evaluation through post-monitoring is not as well performed in Pakistan as in cases of hydroelectric power plants in Sweden and Norway. The key reason for this shortcoming is misconceptions about the EIA process, which initially receives intense attention but becomes weakened by the time of implementation. This implies that there is a need to adopt simplified and flexible EIA techniques suitable for the infrastructure and resources of a specific country, taking into account institutional, technical and financial constraints. Improvements are required in public participation, awareness, as well as in environmental control and data system sectors in Pakistan, besides simply enacting legislation to achieve the goals of the EIA system.     

Volatile organic chloramines formation during ClO2 treatment

Volatile organic chloramines are reported as the disinfection byproducts during chlorination or chloramination.However,ClO_2,as an important alternative disinfectant for chlorine,was not considered to produce halogenated amines.In the present work,volatile organic chloramines including(CH_3)_2 NCl and CH_3 NCl_2 were found to be generated during the reaction of ClO_2 and the dye pollutants.(CH_3)_2 NCl was the dominant volatile DBP to result from ClO_2 treated all four dye pollutants including Methyl Orange,Methyl Red,Methylene Blue and Malachite Green,with molar yields ranging from 2.6% to 38.5% at a ClO_2 to precursor(ClO_2/P) molar ratio of 10.HOCl was identified and proved to be the reactive species for the formation of (CH_3)_2 NCl,which implied(CH_3)_2 NCl was transformed by a combined oxidation of ClO_2 and hypochlorous acid.(CH_3)_2 NCl concentrations in the ppb range were observed when real water samples were treated by ClO_2 in the presence of the dye pollutants.The results suggest that these azo dyes are one of the significant precursors for the formation of HOCl during ClO_2 treatment and that organic chloramines should be considered in ClO_2 disinfection chemistry and water treatment.     

Challenges against CO2 abatement strategies in cement industry: A review

Cement industry is an intensive source of fuel consumption and greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions. This industry is responsible for 5% of GHGs emissions and is among the top industrial sources of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Therefore, CO₂ emissions reduction from cement production process has been always an appealing subject for researches in universities and industry. Various efforts have been carried out to mitigate the huge mass of CO₂ emissions from the cement industry. Although, majority of these strategies are technically viable, due to various barriers, the level of CO₂ mitigation in cement industry is still not satisfactory. Among numerous researches on this topic, only a few have tried to answer why CO₂ abatement strategies are not globally practiced yet. This work aims to highlight the challenges and barriers against widespread and effective implementation of CO₂ mitigation strategies in the cement industry and to propose practical solutions to overcome such barriers.     

Currently used organophosphate and brominated flame retardants in the environment of China and other developing countries (2000–2016)

This review summarizes the environmental occurrence of new brominated flame retardants (NBFRs) and organophosphate compounds (OPs) in the environment of developing countries since 2000. The ban on the production and use of commercial formulations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have paved the way for the high use of NBFRs and OPs in consumer products to fulfill the fire safety regulations. Recent studies have shown that the ever increasing production volumes and extensive use of these chemicals as additive FRs and plasticizers have resulted into their ubiquitous occurrence in all environmental compartments. Although presumed to be safe for use and the environment, recent studies on their occurrence and persistence in the environment have raised questions. Due to the lack of awareness, research interest, and availability of technical facilities, limited scientific data is available on the occurrence of these chemicals in developing countries. In this study, we collected reported data and provide an overview of environmental occurrence of NBFRs and OPs in abiotic and biotic matrices of different developing countries. Finally, research gaps were identified with recommendations for future research work and would be useful towards the environmental management of these toxic chemicals.     

Genotoxicity of methyl parathion in short-term bacterial test systems

Genotoxicity of the insecticide methyl parathion was investigated in Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli bacterial test systems for the detection of back mutations and DNA-damage. Methyl parathion was mutagenic to S. typhimurium strain TA100 after activation with rat liver microsomal and cytosolic enzymes. In DNA repair tests, methyl parathion was effective in inducing damage to the S. typhimurium strain TA1538 which lack excision repair compared to the strain TA1978 which is proficient in excision repair mechanisms. Normal laboratory light conditions had no effect on the mutagenicity tests, however, exposure of methyl parathion in the petri dish containing the tester strain TA100 and rat liver microsomal and cytosolic enzymes reduced the mutagenic activity and increased the toxic effects of methyl parathion.     

Rapid Flood Damage Prediction and Forecasting Using Public Domain Cadastral and Address Point Data with Fuzzy Logic Algorithms

National Flood Interoperability Experiment (NFIE) derived technologies and workflows will offer the ability to rapidly forecast flood damages. Address Points used by emergency management personnel approximate the locations of buildings, and they are a common operating picture for emergency responders. Most United States (U.S.) county tax assessment offices throughout the contiguous U.S. (CONUS) produce georeferenced cadastral data. To varying degrees, these parcel data describe building characteristics of structures within the parcel. Address Point data with cadastral data offers the ability to rapidly develop building inventories for flood damage estimation. Flood damage forecasts can expedite recovery and improve short‐term flood resilience. In this work the authors evaluate Flood Damage Wizard, a proposed open source platform independent methodology. Flood Damage Wizard uses point shapefile building information to estimate flood damage to buildings by finding the appropriate depth‐damage function using fuzzy‐text matching. The authors apply Flood Damage Wizard using Address Point and parcel datasets to demonstrate a method of estimating flood damage to buildings nearly anywhere within the CONUS. Results indicate using Address Point and cadastral datasets can generate total flood damage estimates approximate to those estimated using existing software solutions Hazus‐MH and HEC‐FIA with minimal manual processing of input data.