Environmental quality,forestation, and health expenditure: a cross-country evidence

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The study probes the relationship between health expenditures, forestation, and environmental quality using panel data of 87 countries, through...     

Ag@MnxOy: an effective catalyst for photo-degradation of rhodamine B dye

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Water pollution by the textile industry is a major issue. Therefore, there is a need for methods to remove organic dyes from industrial effluents. Various...     

Synthesis and characterization of drinking water treatment plant sludge-incorporated Portland cement

Kinetic analysis of thermally activated phase transformations in drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) sludge suggests its applicability in the materials of construction. The suggested prediction has already been verified on the sludge-based bricks. The present study deals with incorporating the same sludge in the raw meal for the synthesis of Portland cement clinkers. For this purpose, two raw meals are prepared with varying sludge loadings. The sludge effect on reactivity of the crude mixture is evaluated on the basis of the free lime content sintered at various elevated temperatures. The results of chemical and mineralogical and scanning electron microscopic analyses reveal fine mineralogical contents of Portland clinkers calcined at 1450 and 1500 °C. Moreover, the cements prepared from these clinkers by the introduction of certain proportions of gypsum, depict significant durability. The obtained results elucidate that the studied DWTP sludge-incorporated Portland cement shows considerable potential to be commercialized.     

Urban noise assessment and its nonauditory health effects on the residents of Chiniot and Jhang,Punjab, Pakistan

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Elevated noise level is an emerging global problem. Therefore, the present work is conducted that can improve, increase, and integrate the already...     

Cytotoxicity,in vivo toxicity,and chemical composition of the hexane extract of Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Cancer is a universal health issue, and many anticancer therapeutic drugs have been isolated from natural products. This study analyzed the cytotoxic...     

How do climatic change,cereal crops and livestock production interact with carbon emissions? Updated evidence from China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Carbon dioxide emission and climatic variation have a detrimental influence on the atmosphere as well as on agriculture production. The key aim of the...     

Do drivers of renewable energy consumption matter for BRICS economies? Nexus among technological innovation,environmental degradation,economic growth,and income inequality

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In light of increasing concerns about climate change and energy security, renewable energy has been seen as the most promising solution to fulfil...     

The use of wastewater in livestock production and its socioeconomic and welfare implications

Although epidemiological studies have found a significant amount of toxins in surface water, a complex link between animals’ access to wastewater and associated animal and human welfare losses needs to be explored. The scarcity of safe water has put stress on the utilization of wastewater for crops and livestock production. The access of animals to wastewater is related to the emergence of dangerous animal’s diseases, hampering productivity, increasing economic losses, and risking human health along the food chain. This review explores use of wastewater for agriculture, epidemiological evidence of microbial contamination in wastewater, and animal and human welfare disruption due to the use of wastewater for crop and livestock production. More specifically, the review delves into animals exposure to wastewater for bathing, drinking, or grazing on a pasture irrigated with contaminated water and related animal and human welfare losses. We included some scientific articles and reviews published from 1970 to 2017 to support our rational discussions. The selected articles dealt exclusively with animals direct access to wastewater via bathing and indirect access via grazing on pasture irrigated with contaminated wastewater and their implication for animal and human welfare losses. The study also identified that some policy options such as wastewater treatments, constructing wastewater stabilization ponds, controlling animal access to wastewater, and dissemination of necessary information to ultimate consumers related to the source of agricultural produce and wastewater use in animal and crop production are required to protect the human and animal health and welfare.     

Cytotoxic, phytotoxic, and mutagenic appraisal to ascertain toxicological potential of particulate matter emitted from automobiles

Vehicular air pollution is a mounting health issue of the modern age, particularly in urban populations of the developing nations. Auto-rickshaws are not considered eco-friendly as to their inefficient engines producing large amount of particulate matter (PM), thus posing significant environmental threat. The present study was conducted to ascertain the cytotoxic, phytotoxic, and mutagenic potential of PM from gasoline-powered two-stroke auto-rickshaws (TSA) and compressed natural gas-powered four-stroke auto-rickshaws (FSA). Based on the increased amount of aluminum quantified during proton-induced X-ray emission analysis of PM from TSA and FSA, different concentrations of aluminum sulfate were also tested to determine its eco-toxicological potential. The MTT assay demonstrated significant (p?<?0.001) dose-dependent cytotoxic effects of different concentrations of TSA, FSA, and aluminum sulfate on BHK-21 cell line. LC₅₀ of TSA, FSA, and aluminum sulfate was quantified at 16, 11, and 23.8 μg/ml, respectively, establishing PM from FSA, a highly cytotoxic material. In case of phytotoxicity screening using Zea mays, the results demonstrated that all three tested materials were equally phytotoxic at higher concentrations producing significant reduction (p?<?0.001) in seed germination. Aluminum sulfate proved to be a highly phytotoxic agent even at its lowest concentration. Mutagenicity was assessed by fluctuation Salmonella reverse mutation assay adopting TA100 and TA98 mutant strains with (+S9) and without (?S9) metabolic activation. Despite the fact that different concentrations of PM from both sources, i.e., TSA and FSA were highly mutagenic (p?<?0.001) even at lower concentrations, the mutagenic index was higher in TSA. Data advocate that all tested materials are equally ecotoxic, and if the existing trend of atmospheric pollution by auto-rickshaws is continued, airborne heavy metals will seriously affect the normal growth of local inhabitants and increased contamination of agricultural products, which will amplify the dietary intake of the toxic elements and could result in genetic mutation or long-term health implications.