Municipal wastewater viral pollution in Saudi Arabia: effect of hot climate on COVID-19 disease spreading

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The viral RNA of SARS-Coronavirus-2 is known to be contaminating municipal wastewater. We aimed to assess if COVID-19 disease is spreading through...     

Amelioration of toxicopathological effects of cadmium with silymarin and milk thistle in male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Cadmium is an important widely distributed heavy metal in the environment due to its several industrial uses, while milk thistle is an important herb...     

Nano-sized Prussian blue immobilized costless agro-industrial waste for the removal of cesium-137 ions

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - For human health and safety, it is of great importance to develop innovative materials with a vast capacity for powerful removal of radioactive ions...     

Green sol–gel synthesis of novel nanoporous copper aluminosilicate for the eradication of pathogenic microbes in drinking water and wastewater treatment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - We used a green sol–gel synthesis method to fabricate a novel nanoporous copper aluminosilicate (CAS) material. Nanoporous CAS was characterized...     

Potential Impact of Climate Change on Residential Energy Consumption in Dhaka City

This study aimed to assess the impacts of climate change on residential energy consumption in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. The monthly electricity consumption data for the period 2011–2014 and long-term climate variables namely monthly rainfall and temperature records (1961–2010) were used in the study. An ensemble of six global circulation models (GCMs) of coupled model intercomparison project phase 5 (CMIP5) namely, BCCCSM1-1, CanESM2, MIROC5, MIROC-ESM, MIROC-ESM-CHEM, and NorESM1-M under four representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios were used to project future changes in rainfall and temperature. The regression models describing the relationship between historical energy consumption and climate variables were developed to project future changes in energy consumptions. The results revealed that daily energy consumption in Dhaka city increases in the range of 6.46–11.97 and 2.37–6.25 MkWh at 95% level of confidence for every increase of temperature by 1 °C and daily average rainfall by 1 mm, respectively. This study concluded that daily total residential energy demand and peak demand in Dhaka city can increase up to 5.9–15.6 and 5.1–16.7%, respectively, by the end of this century under different climate change scenarios.     

Radioactive Contamination Control by Atmospheric Dispersion Assessment of Airborne Indicator Contaminants: Numerical Model Validation

In this work, a numerical model is proposed to estimate air concentration of released airborne radioactive contaminants ¹³¹I and ¹³⁷Cs. A Gaussian dispersion model is used to assess the atmospheric dispersion of radioactive contaminants released continuously from a nuclear power plant as a result of an accident. The model uses various input parameters such as source height, release rate, stability class, wind speed, and wind direction. The validation of the model was carried out by comparing its predicted values with published experimental data. The model was extensively tested by simulating several accidental situations. The main conclusion drawn from these tests is that for large downwind distances from the release point, the contaminant concentrations predicted by the model diverge drastically from measured data, while for short distances, the predicted values generally agree quite well with experimental data. The obtained activity concentrations range from 1.57?×?10² to 6.43?×?10³ Bq/m³ for ¹³¹I and from 3.18?×?10^?2 to 9.72?×?10² Bq/m³ for ¹³⁷Cs. The estimated standard deviation coefficients values range of 7.2 to 6847.7 m, and the maximum absolute error predicted by the model for these parameters was less than 5%.     

Review on the innovative uses of steel slag for waste minimization

Piles of steel slag, a solid waste generated from the iron and steel industry, could be seen due to no utility found for the past century. Steel slag has now gained much attention because of its new applications. The properties of slag greatly influence its use and thus had got varied applications. The chemical composition of steel slag varies as the mineral composition of raw material such as iron ore and limestone varies. This paper reviews the characteristics of steel slag and its usage. The paper reviews recent developments in well-known applications to the steel slag such as aggregate in bituminous mixes, cement ingredient, concrete aggregate, antiskid aggregate, and rail road ballast. This paper also reviews novel uses such as mechanomutable asphalt binders, building material, green artificial reefs, thermal insulator, catalyst and ceramic Ingredient. The review is also done on utilization of solid waste for waste management by the novel methods like landfill daily cover material, sand capping, carbon sequestration, water treatment and solid waste management. Review also shows recovery of pure calcium carbonate and heavy metals from slag, providing opportunity for revenue generation. Steel slag once traded as free to use by steel industries is now sold in the market at some price. Its utilization is of great economic significance as it also contributes to the reduction of solid waste.     

Probiotics and plant-derived compounds as eco-friendly agents to inhibit microbial toxins in poultry feed: a comprehensive review

Some of pathogenic bacteria and fungi have the ability to produce fetal toxins which may be the direct causes of cytotoxicity or cellular dysfunction in the colonization site. Biological and non-biological environmental factors, challenge and microbes influence the effect of toxins on these pathogens. Modern research mentions that many natural materials can reduce the production of toxins in pathogenic microbes. However, researches that explain the mechanical theories of their effects are meager. This review aimed to discuss the ameliorative potential role of plant-derived compounds and probiotics to reduce the toxin production of food-borne microbes either in poultry bodies or poultry feedstuff. Moreover, studies that highlight their own toxicological mechanisms have been discussed. Adding natural additives to feed has a clear positive effect on the enzymatic and microbiological appearance of the small intestine without any adverse effect on the liver. Studies in this respect were proposed to clarify the effects of these natural additives for feed. In conclusion, it could be suggested that the incorporation of probiotics, herbal extracts, and herbs in the poultry diets has some beneficial effects on productive performance, without a positive impact on economic efficiency. In addition, the use of these natural additives in feed has a useful impact on the microbiological appearance of the small intestine and do not have any adverse impacts on intestinal absorption or liver activity as evidenced by histological examination.     

Does the application of silicon and Moringa seed extract reduce heavy metals toxicity in potato tubers treated with phosphate fertilizers?

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Two field trials were carried out in two successive agricultural seasons to study the possibility of using silicon (Si) and Moringa seed extract (MSE)...     

Bacterial contamination and health risks of drinking water from the municipal non-government managed water treatment plants

Water quality and bacterial contamination from 18 drinking water municipal plants in three locations at Giza governorate were investigated. The average total count of bacteria detected after four stages of treatments in the investigated plants was 32 CFU/1 mL compared to 2330 cfu/mL for raw water, with a reduction percentage of 98.6. Although there is a relatively high removal percent of bacterial contamination from the water sources, however, several bacterial pathogens were identified in the produced water prepared for drinking including Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Shigella spp. After 3 days of water incubation at 30 °C, the amount of bacterial endotoxins ranged from 77 to 137 ng/mL in the water produced from the municipal plants compared to 621–1260 ng/mL for untreated water. The main diseases reported from patients attending different clinics and hospitals during summer 2014 at the surveyed locations and assuredly due to drinking water from these plants indicated that diarrheas and gastroenteritis due to E. coli and Campylobacter jejuni constituted 65.7% of the total patients followed by bacillary dysentery or shigellosis due to Shigella spp. (7.9%) and cholera due to Vibrio cholera (7.2%). There was an increase in serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) as well as urea and creatinine values of guinea pigs consuming water produced from the non-governmental plants for 6 months indicating remarkable liver and kidney damages. Histological sections of liver and kidney from the tested animal revealed liver having ballooning degeneration of hepatocytes and distortion and fragmentation of the nuclei, while the section of the kidney showed irregularly distributed wrinkled cells, degenerated Bowman’s capsule, congested blood vessels, and inflammatory cells.