Autotrophic denitrification using hydrogen oxidizing bacteria in continuous flow biofilm reactor

Autotrophic denitrification was investigated in five bench‐scale upflow attached growth reactors using hydrogen oxidizing bacteria under anoxic conditions. The performance of sand, granular activated carbon (GAC), crushed pumice, crushed volcanic rock, and plastic media were evaluated as the support material. The reactors were inoculated with acclimated cultures obtained from domestic sewage treatment plant. A synthetic solution containing nitrate was used as the influent. The reactor performance was evaluated by measuring influent and effluent nitrate concentration. The design parameters demonstrated that the effectiveness of autotrophic denitrification is comparable to that of the heterotrophic process and may be utilized economically for drinking water treatment either as the main process or as a supplemental process for ion exchange regenerant treatment.     

Effect of biocides on the precipitation of calcium fluoride in the presence of anionic copolymeric inhibitors

The inhibitory efficiency of anionic copolymers and the effect of the biocides sodium hypochlorite, glutaraldehyde, and tris(hydroxymethyl)nitromethane on the precipitation behavior of calcium fluoride (CaF₂) were studied. The efficiency of polymeric inhibitors was traced from conductivity measurements by using half-life (t_1/2) method. X-ray diffraction parameters have been measured for calcium fluoride scale minerals. An anionic copolymer (K-798) acts as one of the best inhibitors for the precipitation process of the calcium fluoride in water as compared to K-775. It is assigned to the fact that the copolymer (K-798) contains both sulfonic acid and sulfonated styrene groups while the polymer (K-775) having only the sulfonic acid group. It was further observed that the biocides have no appreciable effect on the performance of the anionic polymeric inhibitors.     

Characterization of polychlorinated biphenyls and brominated flame retardants in surface soils from Surabaya, Indonesia

In this study, soil contamination by PCBs, PBDEs, HBCDs and two novel BFRs such as 1,2-bis-(2,4,6-tribromopenoxy) ethane (BTBPE) and decabromodiphenyl ethane (DBDPE) in various locations such as industrial, urban, rural, dumping site and agricultural areas of Surabaya, Indonesia has been characterized in order to evaluate their contamination status, profiles, potential sources, fate and behavior. Range and median concentrations of PCBs, PBDEs, HBCDs, BTBPE and DBDPE were ND - 9.6 (1.2), 0.069 - 24 (7.4), ND - 1.8 (0.48), ND - 1.7 (0.14) and ND - 7.6 (2.2) ng g⁻¹ dw, respectively. Industrial, urban and dumping areas were inventoried as the main sources of these pollutants. Decreasing gradient levels were observed for these contaminants from industrial district, urban, dumping site, rural and agricultural areas, in that order. Furthermore, organic carbon contents and proximity to the point sources were found as the major controlling factors. Contaminant profiles were characterized by the predominance of hexa-, hepta- and penta-homologues for PCBs; deca-, nona- and octa- for PBDEs and α-isomer for HBCDs. Product mixtures such as Ar1260/KC600 and Ar1254/KC500 for PCBs, deca- and octa-BDEs for PBDEs were the possible common formulations used in study area. To our knowledge, this is a first comprehensive study on characterization of soil contamination by PCBs, PBDEs and HBCDs together with two novel BFRs in a highly industrialized city located in tropical region. This study provides baseline information for establishing national monitoring programs in Indonesia.     

The asymmetric effect of tourism,financial development,and globalization on ecological footprint in Turkey

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - With the growing interest among researchers in analyzing the ecological footprint of any country, this study focuses on new dimensions to analyze the...     

Correction to: Does globalization affect the green economy and environment? The relationship between energy consumption,carbon dioxide emissions,and economic growth

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15192-8     

An empirical nexus between economic growth,energy utilization,trade policy,and ecological footprint: a continent-wise comparison in upper-middle-income countries

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study investigates the causal connection between economic growth, foreign direct investment, primary and renewable energy utilization, trade...     

Association between meteorological indicators and COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study was designed to investigate the impact of meteorological indicators (temperature, rainfall, and humidity) on total COVID-19 cases in...     

A pathway toward future sustainability: Assessing the influence of innovation shocks on CO2 emissions in developing economies

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The prior empirical research focuses on examining only the procyclical impact of innovation on carbon emissions (CO2e), in the majority of cases, for...     

Development of ELISA technique for the analysis of atrazine residues in water

A highly sensitive enzyme immunoassay is described for the detection of atrazine residues in water. Atrazine derivative was conjugated to Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) to obtain an immunizing antigen and to Horseradish Peroxidase enzyme (POD) to obtain a marker for immunoassay. The formation of these conjugations was confirmed by UV spectroscopy as well as by gel-electrophoresis. Polyclonal antibodies were raised in rabbits by immunization with an atrazine-BSA conjugate containing 29 atrazine residues per BSA molecule. An ELISA on microtitration plates was optimized with peroxidase-atrazine conjugate. The middle of the test (50% B/Bo) was found to be at 90 ng/l, which is well below the maximum concentration permitted by the EC guidelines for drinking water. Detection limits for atrazine of about 1 ng/l could be reached. The assay did not require concentration or cleanup steps for drinking or ground water samples. Validation experiments showed good accuracy and precision. No cross-reactivities were shown by other s-triazines like terbutryn, ametryn, terbuthylazine, des-isopropylatrazine, and de-ethylatrazine except hydroxyatrazine. The latter was present at very low levels that can be calibrated/standardized before analysis or it may be considered as leftover residues of atrazine. Based on these results, it is suggested that this test can be applied to obtain fairly accurate results for atrazine concentration in water samples from different sources.     

Energy policies and environmental security: A multi-criteria analysis of energy policies of Pakistan

Access to affordable and efficient energy is a basic human right and an imperative for human development. The energy policies usually ponder technical, economic, environmental, and social aspects for successful procurement of energy and endowment of energy resources. The objectives of this paper are to analyze energy policies in Pakistan and assess their relationship with environmental security and development. An empirical and multi-criteria decision analysis was used to unfold the strong interactions of energy security with development and environment. The energy policies in Pakistan are more equipped with economic and technical aspects, fairly framed with social aspects and poorly pampered with environmental facets. The dearth of environmental aspects will not only results in environmental degradation but also lag the development and achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.