Worldwide contamination of water by fluoride

Fluoride contamination in water is a major problem across the globe, with health hazards such as dental and skeletal fluorosis. Most earlier studies are confined to local or regional scales. As the problem has serious socioeconomic implications, there is a need for a global perspective. Thus, here we review worldwide research for nearly a century on fluoride contamination in water. We investigated the distribution of fluoride contamination in water, its sources, mobilization and association. The major findings are: (1) Anomalous fluoride concentration in groundwater is mainly confined to arid and semiarid regions of Asia and North Africa. (2) The geogenic sources of fluoride in water are mainly fluorine-bearing minerals in rocks and sediments, whereas anthropogenic sources of fluoride in water are mainly pesticides and industrial waste. (3) Fluoride mobilization from geogenic sources is mainly controlled by alkalinity and temperature. (4) Fluoride occurrence in water is associated with ions such as sodium, arsenic chloride and bicarbonate. There are few associations of fluoride in water with calcium and magnesium.     

Environmentally safe release of plant available potassium and micronutrients from organically amended rock mineral powder

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - The staggering production of rock dusts and quarry by-products of mining activities poses an immense environmental burden that warrants research for...     

The recent occurrence of exotic freshwater fishes in the tributaries of river Ganga basin: abundance, distribution, risk, and conservation issues

We record here the recent occurrence, abundance and distribution of six exotic fish species, viz. Oreochromis mossambicus, Cyprinus carpio, Hypopthalmicthys molitrix, Ctenopharyngodon idellus, Clarias gariepinus, and Pterygoplichthys disjunctivus (a new exotic in India) distributed through the four important tributaries of river Ganga basin in India. From the total catch, the abundance index of all exotic species in different rivers ranged from 1.1 to 14.5?% with highest value in River Gomti. The relative abundance of the exotic species in all the four tributaries demonstrated that a single species C. carpio contributed a considerable abundance (43.3?C83?%) than that of the remaining exotic fishes. The Common Carp, C. carpio, was ubiquitous in all the four tributaries of Ganges basin studied and had the highest local distribution (52.63?%). Smaller size groups of endangered (Chagunius chagunio, Chitala chitala, and Tor tor) and migratory species (Bagarius bagarius, Ompok pabda, Wallago attu, and Sperata aor) in the four tributaries were recorded, and the increasing appearance of Common Carp and other exotic fishes is signaling biological invasion. Possible threats to the indigenous fish fauna, as a result of the invasion and proliferation of these exotics, are discussed.     

Assessment of habitat quality with relation to fish assemblages in an impacted river of the Ganges basin, northern India

In this work, we examined water-quality assessment in relation to fish assemblage of Gomti River, a large tributary of the Ganges River basin in northern India. Principal component analysis was performed for 18 environmental variables which produced three axes that cumulatively explained 60.23% of the environmental variation in sites. Fifteen variables (fine substrate fine gravel, coarse gravel, cobble, sand substrate water flow, conductivity, TDS, total hardness, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and overhanging vegetation) had high loadings on at least one of the principal component axes interpreted. The canonical correspondence analysis was used to establish the relationship between important fish species and environmental variables. Species were distributed within four groups with respect to the significant habitat characteristics. The Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated between the water-quality parameters. We concluded that the level of species richness is mostly dependent on abiotic factors like temperature, dissolved oxygen, TDS, conductivity, depth, pH, and water current in the Gomti River, of the Ganges basin.     

Seasonal dynamics of Vibrio cholerae and its phages in riverine ecosystem of Gangetic West Bengal: cholera paradigm

The Gangetic delta is a century-old cholera endemic belt where the role of riverine–estuarine ecosystem in cholera transmission has never been elucidated. Seasonality, distribution, and abundance of environmental Vibrio cholerae O1/O139 and vibriophage in Hooghly riverine–estuarine environment and their correlation with cholera incidence pattern in West Bengal, India, have been analyzed for the first time across summer, monsoon, and winter months. A total of 146 water samples collected from two sites of the Hooghly River (Howrah and Diamond Harbour) were analyzed physicochemically along with cultivable Vibrio count (CVC), V. cholerae O1/O139, and vibriophages. V. cholerae O1 was detected in 56 (38.3 %) samples, while 66 (45.2 %) were positive for V. cholerae O1 phages. Flood tide, water temperature (31?±?1.6 °C), and turbidity (≥250 nephelometric turbidity unit (NTU)) significantly stimulated V. cholerae and vibriophage abundance in riverine ecosystem. Solitary existence of V. cholerae O1 and phages (p?V. cholerae O1 or V. cholerae O1 Φ) on the other. Significant association (p?V. cholerae O1 in aquatic environment implies the role of riverine–estuarine ecosystem in cholera transmission. A “biomonitoring tool” of physicochemical stimulants, tidal, and climatic variants has been proposed collating V. cholerae and phage dynamics that can forewarn any impending cholera outbreak.     

Seasonal variation in physicochemical properties of coastal waters of Kalpakkam, east coast of India with special emphasis on nutrients

A study pertaining to the seasonal variation in physicochemical properties of the coastal waters was carried out at Kalpakkam coast for a period of 1 year (February 2006 to January 2007). It revealed that the coastal water was significantly influenced by freshwater input during North East (NE) monsoon and post-monsoon periods. Concentration of all the nutrients and dissolved oxygen (DO) was relatively high during the NE monsoon, whereas, salinity and chlorophyll-a (chl-a) were at their minimum level during this period. Phytoplankton production peak was observed in summer during which a typical marine condition prevailed. The present observed values of nitrate, phosphate, silicate, and turbidity are significantly high (five to ten times) compared to that of the pre-Tsunami period from this coast. Relatively low DO and chl-a concentration was noticed during the post-Tsunami period. A notable feature of this study is that though nutrient concentration in the coastal waters during post-Tsunami period has increased significantly, turbidity, the most single dominating factor, was found to adversely affect the phytoplankton production during post-Tsunami period as reflected by relatively low chl-a concentration. Thus, the post-Tsunami period may result in a change in coastal biodiversity pattern concomitant with change in coastal water quality.     

Effect of sewage water on the growth and yield parameters of wheat and blackgram with different fertilizer levels

Impact of biologically treated domestic sewage water was studied on the growth and yield attributing characters of wheat and blackgram under different fertilizer levels in the field condition. There was no significant difference on the yield and yield attributing characters of wheat. However, yield attributing characters like number of tillers/plant, panicle length (cm), number of grains/panicle and 1,000 grain weight showed increasing trend to the tune of 13.29, 1.59. 5.49 and 3.79 per cent respectively over the tubewell irrigated crop. Yield was also increased to the tune of 3.63 per cent when the crop was irrigated with sewage water. Interactions between irrigation and fertilizer levels were also insignificant. However, sewage water with N60P45K45 responded better on tillering, panicle length, number of grains/panicle and yield of wheat. In case of blackgram, treated sewage water had no significant effect on the grwoth and yield attributing characters, rather sewage water had some negative effect on these parameters. Interactions between irrigation and fertilizer levels were insignificant. But tubewell irrigation with N10P10K10 was more responsive on growth parameters. When the crop was grown with tubewell irrigation and without fertilizer, yield attributing characters were more positively responded.     

Biomonitoring insecticide pollution using non-target soil microarthropods

The scope of biomonitoring insecticide pollution in soil is discussed with the help of field and laboratory findings on the density, prey-predator ratio and fecundity of non-target microarthropod fauna. Field experiments were conducted in small plots with mustard, wheat and lady's finger crops and insecticides namely heptachlor 20EC (3.25 kg ai/ha = 16.25 lit/ha) and endosulfan 35EC (0.875 kg ai/ha = 2.5 lit/ha) applied at the seedling stages. Soil microarthropod population estimated at fortnightly intervals in the treated and untreated control plots revealed a general trend of adverse effect of the insecticides, prominently on the density and relative abundance of major prey groups like Collembola and Acari leading to notable decline in prey-predator ratio. Comparison of the percentage reductions of major taxonomic and trophic groups between pre-treatment and post-treatment intervals also demonstrated the ill effect of both heptachlor and endosulfan, notably on Collembola and the prey category. In the laboratory the survival success and fecundity of Cyphoderus javanus (Collembola) and Archegozetes longisetosus (Acari) were compared by exposing freshly emerged adults to sub-lethal concentrations of heptachlor and endosulfan for varying durations. The untreated control sets recorded high fecundity for both C. javanus and A. longisetosus, but chronic toxicity of the insecticides on adults confined to the treated soil resulted into very low fecundity. Even short duration exposure to heptachlor and endosulfan treated soil for 24 or 72 hours only was found to delay the egg-laying and decrease the fecundity of both the species. It is concluded that population responses and reproductive sensitivity in non-target soil microarthropods are potential eco-toxicological parameters for detecting pesticide pollution in soil and for ecological health assessment since the results are based on the bioactivity of toxicants.